Norman Scarth (born October 1925)[1] is a British World War II veteran, political candidate, former farmer, and blogger.
Scarth served on HMS Matchless in the Arctic convoys of World War II, receiving a medal from the Russian government in 1995.
[9] In 1990, Scarth argued that he was not wearing a seat belt because he was about to commit suicide, but his defence was not accepted by the court.
[10] Scarth was the plaintiff in the case Scarth v. United Kingdom at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR 33745/96) that resolved that private hearings in small claims arbitration at county courts breached Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Lord Justice Pitchford stated: "Having had the benefit of information about the background, which was not available to the judge and could not have been since Mr Scarth refused to take part, we are quite satisfied that the public interest is not served by the continued imprisonment of this 85-year-old man without in any way reflecting upon the correctness of the decision made by the judge at the time", adding, "He is an unusual individual in that the nature of his personality disorder means that he is not one of those who is likely to see the error of his ways and, to use technical language, purge his contempt.