The case - a judicial review of the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) decision to introduce byelaws which deny the women’s peace camp their right to freedom of assembly - was brought by Public Interest Lawyers on behalf of a member of the Aldermaston Women’s Peace Camp (AWPC).

At the High Court, arguments from the claimant and defendant were completed by the end of the day and the Justices are expected to give their written judgment within the next fortnight.

After the hearing a spokeswoman from AWPC said "We feel that the byelaws are vague, that they undermine the specific rights of assembly and association and that, in implementation, they will be applied in a discriminatory manner against camp women by the Ministry of Defence Police".

To date ten women have been arrested under the Aldermaston Byelaws 2007. All cases have been dropped after pre-trial review stage.

In related news, the camp announced today that it will be hosting one of the gates for the Aldermaston march 50th anniversary events this Easter. Called by CND, the 24 March event will be a "lively demonstration against the development of nuclear weapons at Aldermaston and a celebration of 50 years of anti-nuclear protest in Britain."

On Easter Monday AWPC will take up residence at their historic home - Falcongate - and invite all women to join them. See link below for details. General details of the Easter event at  http://www.cnduk.org/aldermaston/

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For background on the judicial review, see:  http://www.aldermaston.net/news/212 and  http://www.aldermaston.net/news/183

See also  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389179.html