thumb|Asselin objects to the burial of [[William the Conqueror in a church he claims was built on his unlawfully obtained land: "the ground upon which you are standing, was the site of my father's dwelling. This man, for whom you ask our prayers, took it by force from my parent; by violence he seized, by violence he retained it; and, contrary to all law and justice, he built upon it this church, where we are assembled. Publicly, therefore, in the sight of God and man, do I claim my inheritance, and protest against the body of the plunderer being covered with my turf."

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The () is an ancient legal injunction of restraint employed by a person who believes they are being wronged by another at that moment. It survives as a fully enforceable law to this day in the legal systems of Jersey and Guernsey, and is used, albeit infrequently, for matters affecting land.

History

The ' was used by landowner Asselin FitzArthur to object to the burial of William the Conqueror. According to Asselin, the church where the king was to be buried was built on land unlawfully seized from his family.

Procedure

The procedure is performed on one's knees before at least two witnesses, in the presence of the wrong-doer, and in the location of the offence. The ' with his hand in the air must call out —

Following this, the ' must recite the Lord's Prayer in French.

On hearing this, the alleged wrong-doer must cease his challenged activities until the matter is adjudicated in court. Failure to stop will lead to the imposition of a fine, regardless of which party is in the right. If the ' is found to have called ' without a valid reason, he in turn must pay a penalty.

The ' in Guernsey requires that a grace be said after the Lord's Prayer:

Furthermore, the grievance must be put in writing and lodged at the within 24 hours.

A ' can also be denied by a court. In 2010, Guernsey's Deputy Bailiff denied a couple's attempt to invoke the ', in a potential eviction action by a bank that had lent the couple money to build a home.

Recent uses

The ' was raised in Guernsey in December 2016 to block the forcible removal of a derelict Kia Sportage from private land. Earlier that same year, a threat to use the ' was issued, in an effort to stop the redevelopment of a garden and war memorial in Guernsey.

On 14 August 2018 local resident Rosie Henderson attempted to use the ' to stop the narrowing of the South Esplanade in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, which she said would be a danger to both pedestrians and motorists.<!----><!--invalid link--> The court refused to register her clameur, because she does not own the land in question.

In 2021, it was used in Jersey as an attempt to prevent an eviction. The ' was ruled as having been raised incorrectly in court on the grounds that the person raising it had lost legal title to the property and it could not be used to block court officials carrying out a court order.

In 2023, a Jersey woman invoked the ' to halt a parish worker from trimming trees overhanging a road which ran through her property. She contended that the road had been illegally widened and therefore, the trees belonged to her, not the parish. When the matter was adjudicated, the Royal Court found that the procedure had been raised incorrectly and fined the litigant £1000. Meanwhile, legal costs to the parish were estimated to amount to £70,000.

In 2023, a Devon man invoked the clameur in Guernsey over the wrongful sale of his family home by a private interest who should have required his consent.

See also

  • Hue and cry

Notes

References

  • Holden, Richard, Jersey Law Course: Civil Procedure (Institute of Law, Jersey, 2011), chapter 23.
  • Jersey Legal Information Board
  • Jersey Citizens Advice Bureau
  • Criants, Clamerists and the Clameur de Haro in the Channel Islands