Clameur de haro

The clameur de haro (French pronunciation: [klamœʁ də aʁo]) is an ancient legal injunction of restraint employed by a person who believes they are being wronged by another at that moment.

It survives as a fully enforceable law to this day in the legal systems of Jersey and Guernsey, and is used, albeit infrequently, for matters affecting land.

For instance, in 1778 the States of Guernsey decided to erect 15 loophole towers at various points on the coast to impede any French incursion on the island.

The States were of the opinion that the project was of such importance that if necessary they would exercise eminent domain, "notwithstanding any Clameur de Haro or any opposition whatsoever".

[5] The clameur was raised in Guernsey in December 2016 to block the forcible removal of a derelict Kia Sportage from private land.

[6][7] Earlier that same year, a threat to use the haro was issued, in an effort to stop the redevelopment of a garden and war memorial in Guernsey.

[8] On 14 August 2018 local resident Rosie Henderson attempted to use the clameur to stop the narrowing of the South Esplanade in Saint Peter Port, Guernsey, which she said would be a danger to both pedestrians and motorists.

[11] In 2023, a Jersey woman invoked the clameur to halt a parish worker from trimming trees overhanging a road which ran through her property.

[12][13][14] In 2023, a Devon man invoked the clameur in Guernsey over the wrongful sale of his family home by a private interest who should have required his consent.

Asselin objects to the burial of William the Conqueror in a church he claims was built on his unlawfully obtained land: "the ground upon which you are standing, was the site of my father's dwelling. This man, for whom you ask our prayers, took it by force from my parent; by violence he seized, by violence he retained it; and, contrary to all law and justice, he built upon it this church, where we are assembled. Publicly, therefore, in the sight of God and man, do I claim my inheritance, and protest against the body of the plunderer being covered with my turf." [ 1 ]