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Courts, the Judicial System and Prisons

• Words of the Pagan Oath and Pagan Affidavit - 21 March 2008
• Pagan Oath - 1 October 2006
• Pagan Oath - 3 August 2006
• Pagan Oath - 13 January 2006
• Prison Ministry

 

21 March 2008

Words of the Pagan Oath and Pagan Affidavit

Here is a reminder of the Pagan Oath:

"I swear by all that I hold sacred that the evidence I shall give shall be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."

The following affidavit was also recently used at an Immigration Services Tribunal:

"I swear by all that I hold sacred that this is my name and handwriting and the contents of this, my affidavit, are true."

If you have used either the oath or the affidavit, please let us know.

 

1 October 2006

Pagan Oath

Following the news above, I would like to invite anyone who has used the Pagan oath to let me know as would like to monitor its reception in courts and tribunals. Please contact me using the form on our contacts page.

Belinda Winder, PEBBLE

 

3 August 2006

Pagan Oath

From 3 August 2006, it became possible for Pagans to be sworn in at tribunals and courts using the new Pagan oath, rather than having to affirm (i.e. make a non-religious oath). This means that anyone appearing as a witness, defendant, or accused in any kind of court or tribunal (e.g. magistrates' courts, crown courts - basically anywhere you have to swear an oath to tell the truth in a formal setting) can now state that they wish to swear by the Pagan oath.

The oath is 'by all that I hold sacred' and should be added to the traditional words of 'I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth … by all that I hold sacred'.

An advisor from the Department for Constitutional Affairs has told me "there is no need for further discussion as the wording for the Pagan oath has been circulated. People can start using it from this moment".

 

13 January 2007

Pagan Oath

Three people have contacted me after trying to use the Pagan oath. The Courts were not aware that it existed and there were problems with people using it (so they had to affirm instead). I contacted the Dept for Constituional Affairs and received this response and advice:

"I can only apologise for the experience that your correspondents experienced.

The fact that the court clerk had been in that position for thirty years indicates that he had not appreciated that things had moved on. In that time, there have been new procedures regarding oaths and affirmations (e.g. Sikhs).

It is a shame that the Clerk of the Court (the Usher) did not see fit to consult someone in the Department of Constitutional Affairs or that your correspondents did not contact you from the courthouse so that we could have sorted out the situation.

I have contacted our communications directorate who inform me that the advice on oaths and affirmations in courts and tribunals (which includes advice on Pagan oaths) will be posted on the internal web pages soon. This action mean that your members can request that clerks refer to the intranet pages.

Obviously, in court, Pagans may be refused this facility by the Judge or Chair of the Bench. As they are independent of the Department and have the final say in what occurs in their courtrooms, there may be little that we can do if they refuse Pagans permission to use the agreed oath - but most members of the judiciary are aware of diversity issues in order to be more inclusive, so such an occurrence of refusal may not happen.

I hope that these comments will be useful for future occasions."

Department of Constitutional Affairs
London

So - if you find yourself in Court wishing to use the Pagan oath - please tell the Usher (person in the gown) at the first possible opportunity that this is what you wish to do. If they have never heard of this, refer them to the internal web pages (all Courts have access to the intranet - the legal advisor normally has a PC directly in front of them) and check under Oaths.

Best wishes,
Belinda
PEBBLE

PS: I am still interested to find out whether or not this resolves the problems!

 

Prison Ministry

See Article by Suzanne White.

For further information: Please email Prison Ministry Manager, Jo Matthews, or write to PF Prison Ministry, PO Box 1318, Bagshot, GU19 5JZ.