Plan B Forum

Freemen on the land" are people who claim that all statute law is contractual, and that such law is applicable only if an individual consents to be governed by it.

They believe that they can therefore declare themselves independent of government jurisdiction, holding that the only "true" law is common law, as they define it. The "Freeman on the land" movement has its origins in various United States-based groups in the 1970s and 1980s, reaching the United Kingdom soon after 2000. The phrase "Freeman-on-the-Land" (FOTL) first appeared around 2004 and was coined by Robert Arthur Menard.

"Freemen" believe that statute law is a contract, and that individuals can therefore opt out of statute law, choosing instead to live under what they call "common" (case) and "natural" laws. Under their theory, natural laws require only that individuals do not harm others, do not damage the property of others, and do not use "fraud or mischief" in contracts. They say that all people have two parts to their existence - their body and their legal "person". The latter is represented by their birth certificate; some freeman will claim that it is entirely limited to the birth certificate. Under this theory, a "strawman" is created when a birth certificate is issued, and that this is the entity which is subject to statutory law. The physical self is referred to by a slightly different name, for example "John of the family Smith", as opposed to "John Smith".

Many FOTL beliefs are based on idiosyncratic interpretations of Admiralty or Maritime law, which they claim governs the commercial world. These beliefs stem from fringe interpretations of various nautical-sounding words, such as ownership, citizenship, dock, or birth (berth) certificate. Freemen refer to the court as a "ship", the court's occupants as "passengers" and claiming that anyone leaving are "men overboard".

Freemen will try to claim common law (as opposed to admiralty law) jurisdiction by asking "Do you have a claim against me?" This, they contend, removes their consent to be governed by admiralty law and turns the court into a common law court, so that proceedings would have to go forward according to their version of common law. This procedure has never been used successfully.

Freemen often will not accept legal representation; they believe that to do so would mean contracting with the state. They believe that the United Kingdom and Canada are now operating in bankruptcy and are therefore under admiralty law. They believe that since the abolition of the gold standard in 1917, UK currency is backed not by gold but by the people (or the legal fiction of their persons). They describe persons as creditors of the UK corporation. Therefore, a court is a place of business, and a summons is an invitation to discuss the matter at hand, with no powers to require attendance or compliance

Freeman sucesses;

Freeman Fails;

Elizabeth Watson, aka Elizabeth of the Watson Family, who came to public attention in 2011 as a self-styled legal adviser in the Victoria Haigh child custody case, was given a nine-month suspended sentence for contempt of court. She had written "no contract" on court documents, denied the lawful authority of the proceedings, and used the "of the ..... family" format when referring to Ms Haigh and herself. (The custody case had concerned false allegations that the child's father was a paedophile.)

Mark Bond, aka Mark of the Family Bond, a Norfolk, England odd-job man, was arrested in 2010 for non-payment of council tax, despite handing police a "notice of intent" stating that he was no longer a UK citizen. He told police that the notice had already been delivered to the Queen and the prime minister. He told the local paper: "Today I asked the judge to walk into the court under common law and not commercial law. If I had entered under commercial law it would prove that I accepted its law. I was denied my rights to go in there." He was sentenced to three months custody, suspended on condition that he pay off the debt at £20 a week.

Bobby Sludds, appeared in court in County Wexford in the Republic of Ireland charged with various motoring offences including two counts of no insurance. Before the police began to give evidence, the accused handed in a letter stating he was not Mr Sludds but Bobby of the family Sludds and questioning the use of the word 'person' in the charge. He was given two suspended sentences and a fine of €670. (He had 24 previous convictions for motoring offences.)

Wilfred Keith Thompson and two others were arrested by police in Guelph, Ontario (Canada), charged with break, enter and theft as well as firearms offences. Thompson had previously made headlines for informing City Hall, local police, Guelph MP Frank Valeriote, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other officials he is "an autonomous being not controlled by others". One of his co-defendants, Trevor “Red” De Block, refused to identify himself to the court, though it was said that his criminal mug shot, computer records, tattoos and other information confirmed his identity. "I object," De Block said, adding that he was not the "rightful owner" of his name, but refusing to clarify or participate in legal proceedings. "I don’t bow down to bail [sic] . . . to false gods," he said, and rejected assistance from the appointed lawyer. Thompson and De Block were denied bail.

Dean Marshall, of Preston, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, was taken to court after he was found to be growing 26 cannabis plants in his garden shed. Claiming he was a Freeman on the Land and therefore not guilty, he then attempted to call up Queen Elizabeth II and David Cameron as his witnesses, although he was told that neither were available to attend. A jury at Hull Crown Court dismissed his claims and convicted him of conspiracy to produce cannabis for which he was given a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, and was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

Doug Jones, of Pembroke Dock, Wales, spent 22 days in prison after refusing to take a breath test. Jones questioned the authority and jurisdiction of the court, asking to see the judge's 'Oath of Office' which resulted in a sentence of fourteen days for contempt of court. He was sentenced to a further seven days after failing to attend a second hearing, but pleaded guilty to the original charges, receiving an endorsement on his driving license. His interest in the Freemen on the Land movement started after watching documentaries on conspiracy theories surrounding the 9/11 and 7/7 bombings. His solicitor, Phillipa Ashworth, stated “On this occasion, in hindsight he appreciates it was not the time to test out philosophical theories behind this approach to life, and in hindsight it isn’t something he would do again.”

Gavin Kaylhem, of Grimsby, England, wilfully refused to pay his council tax debts of £1,268.54 accrued between 2001 and 2008 and was sentenced to 30 days imprisonment. He had claimed that he was a "Freeman" and thus had no contractual duty under Common Law to pay. He refused to co-operate with magistrates' questions.

What did you expect Cooky? They will go to any lengths to hide their dark, dirty secrets about unlawful killings and the massive role they play in the worlds drug trade!

It’s a judicial decision that stems from an alleged Highway Traffic Act violation, but unlike most of that genre, it references William Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll and castigates the cut and paste function as “one of the four horsemen of the modern apocalypse.”

The judgment, written by Justice Fergus O’Donnell tells the tale of a “pleasant young man” who thinks his case should not proceed because he believes the court has no jurisdiction over him — an argument O’Donnell believes is a “misbegotten fruit of the internet.”

Currently making the rounds in the legal community, O’Donnell’s lively page-turner includes such passages as: “I suppose that if perfectly pleasant young men weren’t led astray from time to time by drugs, alcohol, broken hearts or rubbish on the internet, then the dockets of provincial court wouldn’t be quite as plump as they usually are.”

O’Donnell normally presides at 1000 Finch Ave. W. but, as the ruling notes, swapped jobs for a “fortnight” with a colleague in the “sylvan environs of Niagara Region.”

Here the judge met Matthew Duncan, who was pulled over for allegedly failing to signal a turn near his Grimsby apartment in late 2011. Duncan refused to present his licence, telling police they had no jurisdiction over him. A struggle ensued and Duncan was Tasered and arrested for allegedly assaulting an officer, according to the court.

O’Donnell wrote that the case was unremarkable — “the bread and butter of provincial court,” except for Duncan, “whose mind was filled with what my late father would have called ‘notions.’ ”

While Duncan did not consider himself a freeman on the land, O’Donnell wrote, his approach was similar to the fringe movement, where people generally see themselves as outside of the law because they do not consent to be governed.

“Mr. Duncan provided me with an ‘affidavit of truth,’ a rather substantial volume that appeared to me to be the result of somebody doing a Google search for terms like ‘jurisdiction’ and the like and then cobbling them together in such a way that it makes James Joyce’s Ulysses look like an easy read.”

In a section titled “The Gods are Kind,” O’Donnell expressed relief that a recently published Alberta ruling addresses similar “freeman on the land” jurisdictional arguments. He concluded Duncan’s argument had no merit.

But things end well for the pleasant young man. O’Donnell dismissed the charge, deeming the initial traffic stop unlawful, and noted Duncan was entitled to resist arrest.