THE Labour Government's banning of Palestine Action as a terrorist group was lawful and will be allowed to stand, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
It comes after the UK Government's decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was ruled unlawful by the High Court in February.
The proscription was allowed to remain in place while the Home Office appealed the ruling, and police continued to arrest people alleged to have shown support for the group.
The Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Edis, Lord Justice Lewis, and Lady Justice Whipple handed down the Court of Appeal's ruling on the case on Monday morning.
Carr, who is the head of the Judiciary of England and Wales and the president of the Courts of England and Wales, said the proscription of Palestine Action “entailed a very significant interference with convention rights under both Articles 10 and 11 [relating to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly], which should be neither overlooked nor understated”.
However, the five judges ultimately ruled that the ban was a “justified and proportionate” interference on freedom of expression rights.
Carr said the High Court had “materially understated the position” when considering how much latitude the Home Secretary had when deciding whether to proscribe Palestine Action.
A key factor in the ruling, the judge said, was a "pattern of escalatory behaviour" which suggested that the group would pose a risk to lawful business activities moving forward.
She further said that comparisons to groups such as the Suffragettes were “seriously flawed” given the secrecy around Palestine Action's internal organisation.
Carr concluded: “We recognise the proscription of an organisation like Palestine Action is highly controversial.
“We recognise too that Palestine Action is supported by many otherwise lawful citizens. But it is a fundamental mistake to overlook the fact that Palestine Action overtly promotes unlawful violence amounting to terrorism.
“It is not – as claimed – a direct action civil disobedience protest group like the Suffragettes, operating transparently in the open.
“It is a covert organisation which operates with secret cells to avoid the detection and prosecution of those using violence to destroy property and cause injury.”
To challenge the decision of the Court of Appeal, campaigners would have to take the case to the Supreme Court. Huda Ammori, one of the co-founders of Palestine Action, said she intended to do so.
“We are confident we will ultimately succeed because criminalising peaceful political protest in this way is a flagrant violation of our fundamental rights and freedoms in Britain, protected in the Human Rights Act, which enshrines the European Convention of Human Rights," she said.
“We will not stop fighting to overturn one of the most extreme attacks on free speech and the right to protest in modern British history.
“This unprecedented abuse of power has devastated the lives of thousands of people while silencing dissent over Israel’s slaughter of the Palestinian people during the genocide, when that dissent could not be more urgent.”
The National contributor Owen Jones called the decision an "outrageous injustice", adding: "One day the boot will be on the other foot – and those who drowned Gaza in blood will languish in prison cells."
The proscription came into effect on July 5, 2025, and made membership of, or support for, the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison.
Yvette Cooper was home secretary who brought the proscription in, but has remained UK Government policy under her successor Shabana Mahmood.
