Gareth Peirce
Encyclopedia
Gareth Peirce is an English
solicitor
, educated at the Cheltenham Ladies' College
, the University of Oxford
and the London School of Economics
. She is known for her work in high profile cases representing people with Irish and Muslim backgrounds accused of terrorism.
, North London
, with her husband, Bill Peirce, son of the American painter Waldo Peirce
. They have two adult sons.
, following the campaign of Martin Luther King. After returning to Britain in the 1970s, having married, she took a postgraduate law degree at the London School of Economics
. She joined the firm of the radical solicitor Benedict Birnberg as a trainee, where she continues to work as a senior partner of Birnberg Peirce and Partners. She was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors on December 15, 1978.
In the mid-1970s Peirce supported specific campaigns for reform of laws and police procedures that permitted the prosecution and conviction of persons solely on identification evidence. Individual cases that were then very much in the news - such as the George Davis Is Innocent Campaign alongside numerous others countrywide soon led to the establishment of Justice Against the Identification Laws (J.A.I.L.), an organisation which Peirce supports. During her career she has represented Judith Ward
, a woman falsely accused of several IRA related bombing in 1974, the Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six
, the family of Jean Charles de Menezes
and Moazzam Begg
, a man held in extrajudicial detention
by the American government. In 2011, Julian Assange
, the founder of WikiLeaks
appointed her as his lawyer in Swedish Judicial Authority v Julian Assange
. She has reportedly never watched the film and stated in 1995 that she was "an extremely unimportant participant in the story" but was "given a seemingly important status".
She was appointed CBE
in 1999 for services to justice, but later wrote to Downing Street asking for it to be withdrawn, accepting responsibility and tendering an apology for any misunderstanding.
Sir Ludovic Kennedy
, a campaigner against miscarriages of justice dedicated a book to Peirce, calling her "the doyenne of British defence lawyers" and that she "refuses to be defeated in any case no matter how unfavourable it looks". Benedict Birnberg, who first hired her as a lawyer believes she has "transformed the criminal justice scene in this country almost single-handedly".
Michael Gove
, a journalist and later a Conservative MP, once described her as being a "passionate, committed and effective supporter of the Trotskyist Socialist Alliance
", which he said was committed to destabilising the Establishment. In 2005, Gove told The Sunday Telegraph that as well as serving her clients, she also has an "idealism that is motivated by a political agenda".
Peirce was one of the initial eight people inducted in March 2007 into Justice Denied
magazine's Hall of Honor for her lifetime achievement in aiding the wrongly convicted.
, was published in 2010. Of her defence of Muslim suspects accused of terrorism, Peirce has said:
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
, educated at the Cheltenham Ladies' College
Cheltenham Ladies' College
The Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.-History:The school was founded in 1853...
, the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
and the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. She is known for her work in high profile cases representing people with Irish and Muslim backgrounds accused of terrorism.
Personal life
Born with the forename Jean, she changed her name to Gareth while still quite young. Her maiden name and date of birth are not known, although in 2008, she was said to be in her 60s and The Sunday Telegraph reported that she was aged 65 in 2005. She is described as being a very private person who shuns the limelight and refuses to be interviewed by the media. She lives in Kentish TownKentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of north west London, England in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The most widely accepted explanation of the name of Kentish Town is that it derived from 'Ken-ditch' meaning the 'bed of a waterway'...
, North London
North London
North London is the northern part of London, England. It is an imprecise description and the area it covers is defined differently for a range of purposes. Common to these definitions is that it includes districts located north of the River Thames and is used in comparison with South...
, with her husband, Bill Peirce, son of the American painter Waldo Peirce
Waldo Peirce
Waldo Peirce was an American painter, born in Bangor, Maine.Peirce was both a prominent painter and a well-known character. He was sometimes called "the American Renoir"...
. They have two adult sons.
Career
In the 1960s, she worked as a journalist in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, following the campaign of Martin Luther King. After returning to Britain in the 1970s, having married, she took a postgraduate law degree at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. She joined the firm of the radical solicitor Benedict Birnberg as a trainee, where she continues to work as a senior partner of Birnberg Peirce and Partners. She was admitted to the Roll of Solicitors on December 15, 1978.
In the mid-1970s Peirce supported specific campaigns for reform of laws and police procedures that permitted the prosecution and conviction of persons solely on identification evidence. Individual cases that were then very much in the news - such as the George Davis Is Innocent Campaign alongside numerous others countrywide soon led to the establishment of Justice Against the Identification Laws (J.A.I.L.), an organisation which Peirce supports. During her career she has represented Judith Ward
Judith Ward
Judith Theresa Ward is a British woman known for being a victim of unsafe convictions in 1974 for the bombing of Euston Station in 1973, and of the National Defence College and M62 coach bombings in 1974. Her conviction was quashed and she was released from prison on 11 May 1992...
, a woman falsely accused of several IRA related bombing in 1974, the Guildford Four, the Birmingham Six
Birmingham Six
The Birmingham Six were six men—Hugh Callaghan, Patrick Joseph Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power and John Walker—sentenced to life imprisonment in 1975 in the United Kingdom for the Birmingham pub bombings. Their convictions were declared unsafe and quashed by the Court of...
, the family of Jean Charles de Menezes
Jean Charles de Menezes
Jean Charles de Menezes was a Brazilian man shot in the head seven times at Stockwell tube station on the London Underground by the London Metropolitan police, after he was misidentified as one of the fugitives involved in the previous day's failed bombing attempts...
and Moazzam Begg
Moazzam Begg
Moazzam Begg , is a British Pakistani Muslim who was held in extrajudicial detention in the Bagram Theater Internment Facility and the Guantanamo Bay detainment camp, in Cuba, by the U.S...
, a man held in extrajudicial detention
Extrajudicial detention
Arbitrary or extrajudicial detention is the detention of individuals by a state, without ever laying formal charges against them.Although it has a long history of legitimate use in wartime , detention without charge, sometimes in secret, has been one of the hallmarks of totalitarian states...
by the American government. In 2011, Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
, the founder of WikiLeaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
appointed her as his lawyer in Swedish Judicial Authority v Julian Assange
Swedish Judicial Authority v Julian Assange
Swedish Judicial Authority v Julian Assange is the set of legal proceedings relating to claims that Julian Assange committed sexual offences in Sweden.When an arrest warrant was issued in November 2010, Assange had been living in England for 1-2 months...
Recognition and reception
Her role in the defence of the Guildford Four was dramatised in the 1994 film, In the Name of the Father, with Peirce portrayed by Emma ThompsonEmma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...
. She has reportedly never watched the film and stated in 1995 that she was "an extremely unimportant participant in the story" but was "given a seemingly important status".
She was appointed CBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1999 for services to justice, but later wrote to Downing Street asking for it to be withdrawn, accepting responsibility and tendering an apology for any misunderstanding.
Sir Ludovic Kennedy
Ludovic Kennedy
Sir Ludovic Henry Coverley Kennedy was a British journalist, broadcaster, humanist and author best known for re-examining cases such as the Lindbergh kidnapping and the murder convictions of Timothy Evans and Derek Bentley, and for his role in the abolition of the death penalty in the United...
, a campaigner against miscarriages of justice dedicated a book to Peirce, calling her "the doyenne of British defence lawyers" and that she "refuses to be defeated in any case no matter how unfavourable it looks". Benedict Birnberg, who first hired her as a lawyer believes she has "transformed the criminal justice scene in this country almost single-handedly".
Michael Gove
Michael Gove
Michael Andrew Gove, MP is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education and as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also a published author and former journalist.Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen...
, a journalist and later a Conservative MP, once described her as being a "passionate, committed and effective supporter of the Trotskyist Socialist Alliance
Socialist Alliance (England)
The Socialist Alliance was a left-wing electoral alliance in England between 1992 and 2005.In late 2005, a small group reformed with the name "Socialist Alliance", with a mutual affiliation with the larger Alliance for Green Socialism.-Origins:...
", which he said was committed to destabilising the Establishment. In 2005, Gove told The Sunday Telegraph that as well as serving her clients, she also has an "idealism that is motivated by a political agenda".
Peirce was one of the initial eight people inducted in March 2007 into Justice Denied
Justice Denied
Justice Denied is the only regularly published print magazine in the world solely devoted to issues related to wrongful convictions. The magazine prints stories about wrongful convictions, miscarriages of justice, and criminal justice issues related to prosecution and conviction of innocent people...
magazine's Hall of Honor for her lifetime achievement in aiding the wrongly convicted.
Publications
Dispatches from the Dark Side: On Torture and the Death of Justice, a collection of her essays for the London Review of BooksLondon Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, was published in 2010. Of her defence of Muslim suspects accused of terrorism, Peirce has said:
We have lost our way in this country. We have entered a new dark age of injustice and it is frightening that we are overwhelmed by it. I know I am representing innocent people; innocent people who know that a jury they face will inevitably be predisposed to find them guilty.
- Gareth Peirce speech on Samar and Jawad
- "This covert experiment in injustice", The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
(February 4, 2004) - "Was it like this for the Irish? Gareth Peirce on the position of Muslims in Britain", London Review of BooksLondon Review of BooksThe London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
(April 10, 2008) - "The Framing of al-Megrahi", London Review of BooksLondon Review of BooksThe London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
(September 24, 2009)