A new mural attributed to the elusive street artist Banksy that appeared on a wall outside London's Royal Courts of Justice and depicts a judge striking an unarmed protester with a gavel will be removed, authorities said Monday.
The work, which Banksy posted on Instagram with the caption “Royal Courts Of Justice. London,” shows a protester lying on the ground holding a blood-splattered placard while a judge in a traditional wig and black gown raises a gavel. Security officials covered the artwork with black plastic sheeting and put two metal barriers in front of it; two officers and a security camera were stationed nearby.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service said the approach to removing the mural will take the building’s protected status into account. “The Royal Courts of Justice is a listed building and HMCTS are obliged to maintain its original character,” the agency said in a statement, adding that work would be carried out with consideration for the 143-year-old Victorian Gothic revival structure.
The mural does not reference a single, identifiable incident, but activists linked it to the U.K. government’s ban on the group Palestine Action. Organizers of a demonstration that challenged the ban said almost 900 people were arrested at a protest in London on Saturday. Defend Our Juries, the group that organized the protest, said the mural “powerfully depicts the brutality unleashed” by the ban and added, “When the law is used as a tool to crush civil liberties, it does not extinguish dissent, it strengthens it.”
Courts have already been involved in disputes over Palestine Action. Judges initially rejected the organization’s request to appeal its ban, but a High Court judge later allowed an appeal to proceed; the government is now challenging that decision.
Banksy, who began his career spray-painting buildings in his native Bristol, often posts photographs of new works to Instagram as a claim of authorship. His pieces and installations have become internationally known and routinely fetch high prices at auction; they have also attracted theft and vandalism.
The artist’s work frequently addresses political topics, including migration and conflict. In 2023, a Banksy-attributed inflatable raft containing dummies wearing life jackets appeared during a headliner set at the Glastonbury Festival and was broadly interpreted as referencing Channel crossings. Earlier works have appeared across Europe and the Middle East, including pieces in Venice that addressed migration and murals in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that commented on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Banksy also operated the “Walled Off Hotel” in Bethlehem, which closed in October 2023.
London has seen other notable Banksy installations in recent years. Last summer, a sequence of animal-themed works appeared across the city over nine days, concluding with a mural of a gorilla seemingly holding up the entrance gate to London Zoo. Those pieces drew wide public attention and media coverage.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service did not provide a timetable for removal or detail the conservation methods that would be used. The agency's emphasis on the building's listed status indicates the work will be taken down in a manner intended to preserve the court's architectural character.
The appearance and planned removal of the mural add to ongoing public debate in Britain over protest, the limits of dissent and how political expression increasingly intersects with heritage sites and public space. Authorities and activists said their responses would continue to unfold in the courts and on London streets.