UK Court Reduces Sentences for Just Stop Oil Protesters, Upholds Tougher Penalties

Six activists, including co-founder Roger Hallam, saw minor reductions in jail terms, while the Court of Appeal maintained stricter sentencing for disruptive climate protests.

Six Just Stop Oil activists had their sentences reduced by the UK Court of Appeal, including Roger Hallam, whose prison term was cut from five to four years.
The court upheld longer sentences for non-violent climate protests, marking a departure from the UK's historical leniency toward such activism.
Two protesters who threw soup at Van Gogh’s 'Sunflowers' in 2022 failed to overturn their sentences, which were upheld as a form of 'violent' protest targeting cultural property.
Critics argue the ruling supports an authoritarian shift in British law, with sentences for peaceful protests now among the harshest in Europe.
The judgment leaves activists weighing an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights, which could set a broader legal precedent across its jurisdiction.