The Court of Appeal has ruled that the decision to ban Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act is lawful
11:41, 15 Jun 2026 Updated 12:26, 15 Jun 2026
The Court of Appeal has ruled that the Government's decision to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws is lawful.
It comes after three judges at the High Court ruled in February that then-home secretary Yvette Cooper's decision to ban the group under the Terrorism Act 2000 was unlawful, following a legal challenge brought by the group's co-founder, Huda Ammori.
The ban, which came into force on July 5 last year, made membership of, or support for, the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. It has remained in force while the Home Office attempted to challenge the ruling.
On Monday, five Court of Appeal judges ruled that the ban was a "justified and proportionate" interference on freedom of expression rights.
In a summary of the decision, the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, said the High Court had "materially understated the position" when considering how much latitude the home secretary had when deciding whether to proscribe.
The judge later said that comparisons to groups such as the suffragettes were "seriously flawed".
Baroness Carr, sitting with Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Edis, Lord Justice Lewis and Lady Justice Whipple, said: "There is a distinction between the expression of an opinion or belief that is supportive of the objective of an organisation… and an expression of an opinion or belief that is supportive of an organisation itself."
In the appeal, Sir James Eadie KC said in written submissions for the Home Office that "the line between criminality, sometimes violent criminality, and terrorism is not a bright one", and that the criminal law had "demonstrably failed" to prevent the escalation of the group’s activities.
Raza Husain KC, for Ms Ammori, said in written submissions that the High Court was right to find that the ban on the group did not correctly balance the human rights involved and that it had created a "culture of fear" among campaigners for Palestinian rights.
Hundreds of people have been arrested at demonstrations after displaying placards or wearing badges and T-shirts expressing support for Palestine Action.
The Chief Magistrate has put a pause on the progress of criminal cases for those charged, with a review hearing due to take place on June 30.
The Court of Appeal’s decision comes after four Palestine Action activists were jailed for raiding the UK factory of Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems.
Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, smashed up computers, drones and other equipment before police and security intervened.
Corner struck police officer Kate Evans twice on the back with a sledgehammer, leaving her with a fractured spine.
Mr Justice Johnson gave the four activists prison sentences of between seven years and eight months and four years and eight months, with each also spending an extra year on licence.
During the hearing on Friday, the judge ruled that the raid amounted to an "act of terrorism".
In a statement following Monday's ruling, Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori said that she intended to take the case to the UK Supreme Court.
She said: "We are surprised by today’s judgment, after a panel of senior judges on the High Court, including the President of the King’s Bench Division, decisively ruled that the Government acted unlawfully in proscribing Palestine Action because of the significant interference with the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.
"We will fight this all the way. We will seek permission to appeal to the Supreme Court and, if need be, take this to the European Court of Human Rights.
"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 added: "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.
"This is the first time in British history that a civil disobedience group has been proscribed as a ‘terrorist’ organisation, placing Palestine Action alongside Isis and Boko Haram despite the fact that we do not advocate violence and exist to save lives by disrupting the supply of weapons used by Israel against the Palestinian people."
Palestine Action was founded in 2020 with the stated goal of ending global participation in Israel's "genocidal and apartheid regime".
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