Gareth Peirce(bornJean Margaret Webb;March 1940) is a Britishsolicitorandhuman rights activist.She has worked on a number of high-profile cases involving allegations of human rights injustices. Her work withGerry Conlonand theGuildford Four– wrongly convicted of bombings carried out by theProvisional Irish Republican Army– was chronicled in the filmIn the Name of the Father(1993), in which she was portrayed byEmma Thompson.[1][2]
Gareth Peirce | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jean Margaret Webb March 1940(age84) Cheltenham,England |
| Alma mater | University of OxfordandLondon School of Economics |
| Occupation | Solicitor |
| Spouse | Chamberlain Peirce |
| Children | 2 |
Early life
editPeirce was born in March 1940 inCheltenham,Gloucestershire, the daughter of Margaret (née Twidell) and John Le Plastrier Webb. She changed her name from Jean to Gareth during her formative years but never divulged to anyone the reason for doing so.[2]Her parents ranBentham Grammar SchoolinNorth Yorkshire,which she attended until she took her O-levels.[3][4]She was subsequently educated at theCheltenham Ladies' College,theUniversity of Oxfordand theLondon School of Economics.[1][5][6][7]
Career
editIn the 1960s she worked as a journalist in the United States, following the campaign of Rev.Martin Luther King Jr.[8]She married, returned to Britain in 1970 with her husband and son and undertook her postgraduate law degree at theLondon School of Economics.Her younger son was born in London after her permanent return to England.[6]
In 1974 she joined the law firm of the solicitorBenedict Birnberg[9]as a trainee,[5]being admitted to the Roll of Solicitors on 15 December 1978. Following Birnberg's retirement in 1999,[10]she continued to work as a senior partner of Birnberg Peirce and Partners.[6]
In the mid-1970s she supported specific campaigns for legal reforms of police procedures that permitted the prosecution and conviction of persons based solely on identification evidence. Individual cases then very much in the news led to the establishment of Justice Against the Identification Laws (JAIL), an organisation Peirce supports.[11]
During her career she representedJudith Ward,who had been wrongfully convicted in 1974 of severalIRA-related bombings, theGuildford Four,theBirmingham Six,several mineworkers after theBattle of Orgreave,the family ofJean Charles de MenezesandMoazzam Begg,a man held inextrajudicial detentionby the American government.[5]
Of her defence ofMuslimsuspects 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.[12]
Julian Assange,the founder ofWikiLeaks,appointed Peirce as his solicitor inAssange v Swedish Prosecution Authority.[13]She was among the doctors and lawyers who were spied on byUC Globalwhile visiting Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy.Santiago Pedraz,theAudiencia Nacionaljudge who is overseeing the case against UC Global's David Morales, issued court orders requesting permission of UK authorities to take witness testimony from Peirce and others.[14]
Recognition and reception
editPeirce's role in the defence of the Guildford Four was dramatised in the 1993 filmIn the Name of the Father,with Peirce portrayed byEmma Thompson.[5]
She was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire(CBE) in the1999 New Year Honoursfor services to justice,[15]but later wrote to Downing Street asking for it to be withdrawn and tendering an apology for any misunderstanding.[7]
Sir Ludovic Kennedy,a campaigner against miscarriages of justice, dedicated a book to Peirce, calling her "thedoyenneof British defence lawyers "who" refuses to be defeated in any case no matter how unfavourable it looks ".[7]Benedict Birnberg, who first employed her as a solicitor, believes she has "transformed the criminal justice scene in this country almost single-handedly".[16]
Peirce was one of the initial eight individuals inducted in March 2007 intoJustice Deniedmagazine's Hall of Honor for her lifetime achievement in aiding the wrongly convicted.[17]
In 1999 she was awarded an honorary doctorate byNUI Galway.
In 2015 she was awarded thePresidential Distinguished Service AwardbyMichael D. Higgins,the President of Ireland.[18]
Personal life
editPeirce has been described as a very private person who shuns the limelight and refuses media interviews.[5][7][16]She lives inKentish Town,North London,with her husband, Mellen Chamberlain "Bill" Peirce,[19]a writer and photographer, son of American painterWaldo Peirce.[6][20]They have two sons.
Bibliography
editAs author
edit- Dispatches from the Dark Side: On Torture and the Death of Justice.London:Verso.2010.ISBN978-1-844-67619-4.
As contributor
edit- Coates, Ken,ed. (2009).Tskhinvali: Shock and Awe.Nottingham:Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation.ISBN978-0-851-24757-1.
References
edit- ^ab"London's Most Influential People 2008: Law".London Evening Standard.London. 8 October 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 5 November 2010.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^abHostettler, John (2013).Twenty Famous Lawyers.Hook: Waterside Press. p. 171.ISBN978-1-904-38098-6.
- ^"Ex-pupils enjoy school reunion".Lancaster Guardian.Lancaster. 20 September 2017.Retrieved25 May2020.
- ^Seed, Linda (December 2017)."Reunion Of Bentham Grammar School Pupils"(PDF).The Betham News.p. 15.Retrieved25 May2020.
- ^abcdeWalker, Andrew (10 March 2004)."Profile: Gareth Peirce".BBC News.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^abcd"Gareth Peirce".The Times.London. 21 April 2008. Archived fromthe originalon 27 September 2011.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^abcdAlderson, Andrew; Goswami, Nina (5 August 2005)."When Sir Ian heard who the lawyer was, it is likely he let out a long, hard sigh".The Sunday Telegraph.London.Retrieved7 July2011.
- ^Jeffries, Stuart (12 October 2010)."Gareth Peirce: Why I still fight for human rights".The Guardian.London.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^Bowcott, Owen (14 January 2005)."The Guardian profile: Gareth Peirce".The Guardian.London.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^Tsang, Linda (25 February 1999)."Law: Farewell to a non-fat cat".The Independent.London.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^Walker, Martin; Brittain, Bernadette (1978).Identification Evidence: Practices and Malpractices – A Report by JAIL.London: Blackrose Press.ISBN978-0-950-67340-0.
- ^Blackstock, Colin (1 April 2004)."Muslims face 'dark age of injustice'".The Guardian.London.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^Hosenball, Mark (24 June 2011)."WikiLeaks' Assange builds new, less-confrontational legal team".Reuters.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^Irujo, José María (9 June 2022)."Julian Assange spying case: Judge suggests CIA may have received illicitly recorded conversations".EL PAÍS English Edition.Retrieved9 June2022.
- ^UK list:"No. 55354".The London Gazette(1st supplement). 31 December 1998. p. 8.
- ^ab"Gareth Peirce: Tough case".The Independent.London. 4 August 2002. Archived fromthe originalon 4 June 2011.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^Nicholls, Serena (Winter 2007)."Gareth Peirce – A One of a Kind Lawyer"(PDF).Justice Denied.No. 36. Portland: Justice Institute. p. 21.ISSN1937-2388.
- ^"Irish Abroad recognised at Presidential Distinguished Service Awards ceremony".Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.Dublin. 3 December 2015.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^"Biography".Chamberlain Peirce.Retrieved3 January2017.
- ^"The Three Little Peirces".Life.New York City. 12 November 1945. p. 82.
External links
edit- Birnberg Peirce & Partners
- Gareth Peirce speech regarding Samar and Jawad,February 2000. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- "This covert experiment in injustice",The Guardian,4 February 2004. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- "Was it like this for the Irish? Gareth Peirce on the position of Muslims in Britain",London Review of Books,10 April 2008. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- "The Framing of al-Megrahi",London Review of Books,24 September 2009. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- Vanity Fairarticle on Mouloud Sihali(February 2008, No. 570). Retrieved 6 August 2014.
- "A Law unto Themselves",BBC Radio 4, Peirce interview with Baroness Kennedy, 4 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.