Palestine Action’s co-founder has been granted permission to appeal to the Supreme Court following a ruling by Court of Appeal judges upholding the group’s ban as lawful. The legal development followed the arrest of 77 individuals at a demonstration outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London, where they were showing solidarity with the protest group.
In a previous ruling, five Court of Appeal judges deemed the ban on the organization as a terrorist group to be a justified and proportionate restriction on freedom of expression rights. This decision overturned a High Court judgment that had deemed the ban imposed by then-home secretary Yvette Cooper unlawful, following a legal challenge from the group’s co-founder, Huda Ammori.
Ms. Ammori expressed her intention to escalate the case to the Supreme Court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights. Her request to challenge the ban was granted by Lord Sales, Lord Leggatt, and Lady Simler, with the case expected to be expedited for a hearing between October and December.
The appeal was allowed on the grounds that Ms. Cooper had misapplied her own policy, although the challenge based on interference with freedom of speech and association rights was not accepted. Ms. Ammori highlighted the arrests as further evidence of a broader crackdown on expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people, raising concerns about the impact on free speech and the right to protest in the country.
A gathering of hundreds outside the court had their cases adjourned to October, with protesters detained by police for expressing support for the proscribed organization. The Metropolitan Police confirmed the arrests, primarily for backing the banned group, with additional arrests made for encouraging or assisting criminal offenses.
All cases related to Palestine Action have been postponed until October 26 to await the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal challenging the group’s designation as a terrorist organization.