Palestine Action loses appeal hours before terror ban due to start
Palestine Action has lost a late-night Court of Appeal challenge to temporarily stop it being banned as a terror group, less than two hours before it was due to come into force.
Earlier on Friday Huda Ammori, the group’s co-founder, unsuccessfully asked the High Court to temporarily block the Government from designating the group as a terrorist organisation, before a potential legal challenge against the decision to proscribe it under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The move is due to come into force at midnight after judge Mr Justice Chamberlain refused the bid for a temporary block.
Lawyers for Ms Ammori took her case to the Court of Appeal on Friday evening, and in a decision given at around 10:30pm, refused to grant the temporary block.
The Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said: “The judge was entitled to take the view that the harm identified… would be the product of an individual’s decision not to comply with the order.”
She added that there was “no real prospect of a successful appeal”.
Raza Husain KC, for Ms Ammori, made a bid to have the case certified as a “point of general public importance” to allow a Supreme Court bid.
Baroness Carr, sitting with Lord Justice Lewis and Lord Justice Edis, added: “You are not going to get to the Supreme Court before midnight.”
Stay
The judge said that any application should be made before 4pm on Monday and refused a bid for a stay.
In his decision refusing the temporary block, High Court Mr Justice Chamberlain said: “I have concluded that the harm which would ensue if interim relief is refused but the claim later succeeds is insufficient to outweigh the strong public interest in maintaining the order in force.”
Blinne Ni Ghralaigh KC, for Ms Ammori, told the Court of Appeal that the judge wrongly decided the balance between the interests of her client and the Home Office when deciding whether to make the temporary block.
She said: “The balance of convenience on the evidence before him, in our respectful submission, fell in favour of the claimant having regard to all of the evidence, including the chilling effect on free speech, the fact that people would be criminalised and criminalised as terrorists for engaging in protest that was not violent, for the simple fact that they were associated with Palestine Action.”
She also told the Court of Appeal that Mr Justice Chamberlain “failed properly to consider” that banning the group “would cause irreparable harm”.
‘Chilling effect’
Ms Ni Ghralaigh said: “There was significant evidence before him to demonstrate the chilling effect of the order because it was insufficiently clear.”
She continued that the ban would mean “a vast number of individuals who wished to continue protesting would fall foul of the proscription regime due to its lack of clarity”.
Ben Watson KC, for the Home Office, told appeal judges that Mr Justice Chamberlain gave a “detailed and careful judgment” which was “all the more impressive given the time constraints”.
He added that the judge “was entitled to reach the conclusion that he did”.
The barrister said: “The judge conducted a very careful analysis of all the matters he relied upon.”
Mr Watson also said that the judge was “alive” to the possible impacts of the ban, including the potential “chilling effect” on free speech.
“There was no error by the judge in concluding that there was a serious question to be tried while at the same time acknowledging that he couldn’t, on the material in front of him, say that it had strong prospects of success,” he added.
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A sad day for protesting in the UK. A win for those carrying out genocide in Ghazza. They even bombed Ghazza on their return journey from Iran.
UK Government lawyers have said in a recent High Court case “The evidence available does not support a finding of genocide, and certainly there is a tenable view that no genocide has occurred or is occurring’.” The International Court of Justice has said that there is a plausible risk of Palestinians’ right to be protected from genocide being violated. This was essentially a warning to Israel that it is capable of such an action but too many people misrepresented the warning as genocide. Frankly, those claiming genocide are not taking any notice of the available facts but merely repeat the… Read more »
I copied this from time magazine november 2023: “Raz Segal, the program director of genocide studies at Stockton University, concretely says it is a “textbook case of genocide.” Segal believes that Israeli forces are completing three genocidal acts, including, “killing, causing serious bodily harm, and measures calculated to bring about the destruction of the group.” He points to the mass levels of destruction and total siege of basic necessities—like water, food, fuel, and medical supplies—as evidence. He says Israeli leaders expressed “explicit, clear, and direct statements of intent,” pointing to Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s statement during an Oct. 13 press… Read more »
government lawyers will say what they’re told to say, we’ve heard it all before with Blair.
Palestine Action – the first group ever to be designated as a ‘terrorist’ organisation without a single death of any person to their name. The lowest figure of 55,000 known deaths in Gaza is not considered ‘terrorism’. The words ‘terror’, ‘terrorist’ and ‘terrorism’ have now been rendered entirely meaningless.
I suppose they did terrify our armed forces when they broke into the airbase with some scooters and spray paint and vandalised the aircraft. Just writing this down has already frightened me. Imagine if they had used emulsion paint in those little tester pots instead. Doesn’t bear thinking about.
It’s wholly arguable, from a government and ‘establishment’ perspective, that Palestine Action is a damn nuisance.
But from what I read, it’s a damn nuisance in pretty much the same way that CND, the Committee of 100 and the Greenham Common women were in decades now past and gone, and, back then, not even the crusty establishment went so far as to designate those folk as ‘terrorists’.
I can’t see that what they do, misguided as some may think them to be, amounts to terrorism. We’re risking becoming Trumpian in reaction to movements like this one.
This is another attack on our freedom to protest and liberty by an increasingly Anti-Welsh authoritarian neoconservative Labour government in London. I’d like to remind Keir Starmer &UK Labour that Emily Pankhurst’s Suffragette movement would today be classed as a terrorist outfit if the same rules were applied. Note: The WSPU (Women’s Social and Political Union) adopted a policy of “deeds, not words,” employing tactics like protests, civil disobedience, and property damage to draw attention to their cause. The very same tactics were used by Palestine Action. Labour doesn’t exist anymore as as a champion of worker rights, the unemployed,… Read more »
Great news that these Hamas cheerleaders have been stopped in their tracks. They caused millions of pounds of criminal damage that this country can ill afford. They are just a bunch of entitled trustafarians poshos whose anti-semitism has been writ large for all to see.
I suppose if the government implemented a 2% wealth tax they may have more money. I suppose the bombing of innocent lives and homes in Ghazza is not relevant anymore. Their lives are of no consideration. What happened on October 7th justifies everything and forever and ever and ever.
Wow another one claiming opposing genocide is antisemitic.
Well I’ve got news for you buddy. Palestinians are semitic too.
But of course you’d know that if you had an once of intelligence.
That is news to me. My friend, you are a beautiful person with lovely heart. You just made my day.
Just think it’s a truly fantastic decision for an organisation that has no interest in peace. I’m sure Saffron and Fineas etc will find something else to do with Mummy and Daddy’s money.
Ah, you mean zionist government, don’t you.
It became clear in the court yesterday that the Home Secretary had been advised back in March that Palestine Action had met the threshold for proscribing. PA legal team raised it, “The Home Secretary was advised as early as March 13 2025 that the statutory tests for proscription were met, yet the decision to proscribe was announced over three months later, on June 23 2025.” What are those threshold triggers? Why if it was imperative did it take over 3 months to take action. Are there similar groups in UK under same threat, we don’t know about?. Starmers Labour seeming… Read more »
Hopefully it will meet the same threshold as providing arms and armed support to a country that just bombs a sovereign country and on the way back just for fun bombs Ghazza, an already decimated concentration camp.
Agree. Should have acted much more quickly against such a hate-filled organisation. People need to call for peace.
Yes, hate filled zionist far right government. Call for peace if you want. I don’t think their ears work.
A massive overstep of power, there are already laws that would cover what PA have done, If the government was so sure they were right, why did they have to bundle PA in with two violent neo nazi groups basically forcing MPs to vote in favour and only hours earlier the women of Westminster had been celebrating another civil disobedience group of activists who cause criminal damage, at least Plaid refused to fall into Starmers trap, sorry state of affairs when protesters against ethnic cleansing are criminalised yet the slaughter of thousands of innocents in Gaza carries on.
#freepalestine