Lawyers are “scared” of doing their jobs following contempt of court charges made against a top barrister who defended a Palestine Action activist, senior legal figures say.

Defence lawyer Rajiv Menon KC was due to stand trial on Tuesday, accused of defying a judge’s order by telling a jury they had the right to acquit activists according to their conscience. Menon denies he acted improperly.

Amid widespread outrage about his case, the Court of Appeal last week intervened to postpone the trial, which is now expected to go ahead in October. Almost 40,000 people have signed a petition in support of Menon.

“No barrister in British legal history has ever faced contempt proceedings over the content of a closing speech,” the petition says.

Menon was representing Charlotte ‘Lottie’ Head after she and others broke into a site owned by Israeli arms firm Elbit Systems near Bristol in August 2024.

Riel Karmy-Jones KC, the chair of the Criminal Bar Association, said: “People at the criminal bar have become uncertain and scared of what they can and can’t say, scared that somehow they might be, at the end of a trial where they have faithfully represented their client themselves, facing a charge of criminal contempt.

“It is starting to feel like it’s about the politics of the subject matter of the trial, rather than the core principles of how a barrister represents his client.”

Former shadow attorney general Baroness Shami Chakrabarti also expressed her concern about Menon’s prosecution – believed to be the first by a barrister over remarks made during a closing speech – saying it was her view that the “judges have behaved capriciously in this case in a very chilling manner”.

Jeremy Corbyn, the parliamentary leader for Your Party, said the case “should terrify anyone who cares about the independence and integrity of the judicial system”.

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