Artwork by street artist Banksy, showing a judge using a gavel to beat a protester using a placard as protection, painted on Britain's High Court.
New Banksy mural challenging UK protest crackdown scrubbed off wall
A new mural by British street artist Banksy, which appeared on a wall of the Royal Courts of Justice in London, has been removed just days after it was unveiled.
The artwork, a stark visual critique of the UK's laws on public dissent, featured a judge in traditional robes using a gavel to beat a prostrate protester, who held a blood-splattered placard. Banksy confirmed the work as his by posting a photograph of it on his official Instagram account.
The artwork's appearance followed a London protest where almost 900 people were arrested while demonstrating against the UK government's ban on the activist group Palestine Action.
A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries, the group that organized the protest, stated the mural "powerfully depicts the brutality unleashed" by the government's measures.
This context links the mural to the UK's broader crackdown on civil liberties, including the controversial Public Order Act 2023 which has been criticized for expanding police powers and introducing new offenses related to protest tactics.
Security officials initially covered the mural with black plastic sheeting and barriers.
The official removal was ordered by the HM Courts and Tribunals Service, which stated that the building is a 143-year-old Grade II-listed site and they are "obliged to maintain its original character".
However, the removal sparked its own protest. The Good Law Project, which filmed the chemical scrubbing of the mural, posted a message on X stating that "The court is erasing Banksy's mural just like it's erasing our right to protest".
BREAKING: They're scrubbing @banksy
— Good Law Project (@GoodLawProject) September 10, 2025
The court is erasing Banksy's mural just like it's erasing our right to protest. pic.twitter.com/9PSKYcI2Dy
According to the group, silencing "a work of art about silencing protest" felt "a little too close to home". Footage of the removal showed that some shadowy remains of the mural were still visible on the wall.
The court is erasing Banksy's mural just like it's erasing our right to protest.
— Good Law Project (@GoodLawProject) September 10, 2025
It only took 48 hours for the Royal Courts of Justice to scrub out a @Banksy showing a judge striking down a protester with his gavel.
Silencing a work of art about silencing protest? Maybe it was… pic.twitter.com/MaSyreYxdS
