Environmental Activist Swears Oath on River Water in Court First

In an unprecedented courtroom event, environmental activist and barrister Paul Powlesland made history by swearing a juror’s oath on river water, signifying his deep commitment to nature. During his jury service at a London crown court, Powlesland, founder of the River Roding Trust, requested to use a vial of water from the River Roding instead of the traditional holy book or secular promise.

Source: John Rogers/YouTube

The River Roding Trust is dedicated to the preservation and cleanup of London’s third-largest river. Powlesland’s unusual request initially perplexed court officials. Standard protocol required him to sip the water to ensure it was not harmful. “When they asked me to do that I thought, ‘Oooh, I don’t know what Thames Water have put in this,’” Powlesland recounted.

After a brief consultation and a standard secular affirmation to satisfy legal requirements, the court allowed him to proceed with his unique oath. Powlesland expressed his reverence for the river, stating, “I explained that nature is my God and I believe the Roding to be sacred and I manifest love in action for her, and in all the things that I do for her, and it would be a really meaningful promise to me.”

He then made his pledge, dipping his finger into the cup of Roding water, “I swear on the River Roding from her source in Molehill Green to her confluence with the Thames that I will faithfully try the case and give a true verdict according to the evidence.”

This act of devotion is not just a personal milestone for Powlesland but also part of a broader movement advocating for the legal recognition of natural entities. Co-founder of Lawyers for Nature, Powlesland is at the forefront of campaigning for rivers, forests, and other natural features to be granted legal personhood, following precedents set in countries such as New Zealand, Spain, Ecuador, and Australia.

Powlesland hopes his actions will inspire others and reintroduce the idea of nature as sacred within the legal system. “It’s another way of demonstrating to the world that nature is alive, that nature is sacred, and we have duties towards it,” he explained, optimistic about the potential for animism to find its place more frequently in judicial settings.

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