The Justice for Witches campaign began in 2023 with one clear objective: to secure posthumous pardons for the estimated 3,000 people convicted in Great Britain under unjust witchcraft legislation between 1542 and 1735.

Help to secure a Royal Pardon for British “witches” by signing this petition.

In modern law the purpose of a free pardon is to remove "all pains, penalties and punishments whatsoever that from the said conviction may ensue". We request the Royal Pardon be effected to remove the following pain/consequence of the convictions: defamation of character. These innocent people should no longer be demonised.

 

We Are Halfway There:  

The British Witchcraft Acts were repealed in 1735. In response to our 2023/24 petition, Parliament agreed with the central argument of the Justice for Witches campaign: that the legislation was repealed because prosecutions for witchcraft were no longer considered lawful.

In response to our petition, the government stated that the Georgian Parliament “repealed laws against witchcraft through the Witchcraft Act of 1735, recognising that witchcraft was an impossible crime”.

Justice for Witches has consistently argued that those convicted under the earlier Witchcraft Acts should have had their names cleared when the legislation was repealed.

The principle is simple: a person cannot be guilty of a crime that was never real.

Given the government's position on why the legislation was repealed, it can no longer be considered fair or just to continue to regard these individuals as criminals. There were no witches. There was no crime.

We will therefore continue to campaign for real justice for those convicted for offences of witchcraft.

 

A Royal Pardon Is a Meaningful Way to Right This Historic Wrong Today:

This Royal Pardon will be analogous to exoneration in the way that it establishes the innocence of the convicted witches by being effected as an official acknowledgement that the prosecutions and convictions should never have happened in the first place.

After centuries, formal recognition in the form of a Royal Pardon would provide a visible act of restorative justice for those who were condemned as witches. 

 

Who Were the Historic British Witches:

• English, Scottish and Welsh people convicted in secular courts for the crime of maleficium: using demonic magic to cause harm to a person or their goods. 
• The vast majority of those accused/convicted were women. (Estimates of between 80% and 90% are most common.) Many of them were socially or economically marginalised.
• They were given no legal representation in court and often did not know the full extent of the charges levelled against them until they were arraigned. 
• They were people convicted without any physical evidence of a crime having taken place.
   

Why Pardoning Historic British Witches Matters Today:

1) Standing up to Misogyny

By signing this petition, you are standing up against misogyny — both the misogyny of the past and the attitudes that still harm women today.

With the invention of the printing press came the promotion of fiercely misogynistic demonological literature that was often referenced in witch trials and used as justification for the state-sanctioned murder of women. Today, we are witnessing the consequences of the rapid growth of the "manosphere": a network of digital communities who promote misogyny, violence against women and opposition to feminism by spreading harmful misinformation. These are communities who demonise women and, just like in the seventeenth century, blame women for their perceived misfortune.

The witch trials have shown us where anti-woman ideology leads.

We are calling for restorative justice because:

• Women should be able to live without fear of violence, abuse or persecution.
• Women’s lives and rights should be equal to those of men.
• No woman should be blamed, demonised or punished because of her gender.

A Royal Pardon for Britain’s historic witches would be more than reparation for the past. It would be a powerful statement about the future. It would be a demonstration by the British government that they are listening to the pleas of women, and of their commitment to protecting women and other marginalised people from discrimination and abuse.

 

2) Witchcraft Accusations Still Cause Immense Harm:

In 2019, over 20,000 reports of abuse linked to beliefs in witchcraft were reported to the media across 60 countries. In 2021, the UN Human Rights Council adopted Resolution 47/8 addressing the Elimination of Harmful Practices related to Accusations of Witchcraft and Ritual Attacks. 

Pardoning historic British witches is a practical way in which the British government can implement the resolution in order to: encourage victims and witnesses to come forward to report the abusers; insist organisations responsible for the protection of our citizens and residents record and report accusations of maleficium and demonic possession, and inform would-be perpetrators that they will be brought to justice for human rights violations.  

• A pardon for British witches sends a clear message that belief in witchcraft as a reality is not justification for abuse. 
• A pardon for British witches reinforces Britain’s position: this is a form of human rights abuse that has no place in the Commonwealth. 

Please sign and share the petition, support Justice for Witches and be the voice for the 3,000+ who were the victims of a colossal miscarriage of justice in Great Britain.

 

Many thanks for your support.

Charlotte Meredith

 

You can find out more about the campaign and help increase our likelihood of success a little bit more by emailing our ready-to-send letter to your representative in Parliament (applicable to UK citizens and residents only). Please visit: https://charlottemeredith.co.uk/the-campaign/