(Mis)use of the Clameur de Haro

The Clameur de Haro, an ancient legal injunction deeply rooted in Jersey history, recently returned to the limelight in a case that garnered media attention after it was invoked by a Trinity landowner.

This centuries-old procedure entitles a person to bring an immediate halt to another person's actions in cases of wrongful interference with the claimant's possession of immovable property and is invoked by the claimant getting down on one knee in front of two witnesses, clasping their hands and calling out:

"Haro! Haro! Haro! À l’aide, mon Prince, on me fait tort." (Hear me! Hear me! Hear me! Come to my aid, my Prince, for someone does me wrong).

At the heart of this recent incident was a dispute over roadside maintenance work in Rue Becq, conducted under the Island's branchage law, by the Parish of Trinity.

Nikki de Gruchy, a landowner, brought the Parish's work to a halt by invoking the Clameur de Haro, claiming that the road had been unlawfully widened over the years, infringing on her property.

The Royal Court, after a hearing that lasted over three hours, ruled against Ms de Gruchy, stating that she had wrongly raised the Clameur, having failed to show that she had been in possession of the land, or that she had suffered the necessary "wrongful interference". 

The Solicitor General described the Clameur as a colourful aspect of Jersey's customary law and pointed out that more proportionate courses of action, such as judicial review or an order of justice, were available and should have been pursued.

The Royal Court noted the need to deter others from improperly raising the Clameur when imposing a £1,000 fine and a costs award against Ms de Gruchy. The Parish of Trinity is understood to have incurred around £70,000 in legal fees, so Ms De Gruchy's liability towards those fees, alongside her own, will have made her decision on that fateful day a very costly one.

The Clameur de Haro is a unique part of the legal heritage of the Channel Islands but this case, and indeed the majority of cases involving the Clameur, serves as a reminder of the need for the careful use of such powerful legal instruments and underscores the delicate balance between tradition and the practicalities of modern-day life and legal proceedings.