Banksy

Slicing it off and flogging it would have paid for the court reforms

A Banksy mural which appeared on the side of the Royal Courts of Justice has been scrubbed off.

The artwork/grafitti (depending on your point of view) showed a protestor on the floor holding a blood-stained placard, while a judge in wig and robe appeared ready to strike him with a gavel (yes, a very inappropriate use of a gavel). It appeared on Monday on the wall of the Queen’s Building, on Carey street.

Banksy included a picture on instagram with the caption “Royal Courts of Justice. London.” Some commentators have stated that the image is a reference to activists who were arrested and charged with supporting Palestine Action, given that almost 900 people were arrested at a London protest last weekend, against its ban.

Labour peer Harriet Harman KC said she believed the work was a “protest about the law”, but didn’t specify a particular area. “Parliament makes the law, and the judges interpret the law,” she said. 

“I don’t think there’s any evidence, in terms of the right to protest, that judges have been clamping down on protest beyond what Parliament intended.”

The mural was covered up by security guards initially on Monday with sheets of plastic and metal barriers, before being scrubbed off on Wednesday. 

The HM Courts and Tribunal service said that the decision was made to remove the image in order to maintain the “original character” of the listed building. 

The Metropolitan police are looking into the matter. Although some people may think the real crime was removing the image without putting it up for auction, given that Banksy’s murals can fetch millions, when carefully removed, and the court could do with some cash. 

The route to cashing-in was less obvious for Womble Bond Dickinson when its office was daubed in a pro-Palestine action earlier this year.