UK Supreme Court to review Palestine Action ban after appeal is granted

The UK Supreme Court will review the ban on Palestine Action under terrorism legislation after granting permission for the group's co-founder, Huda Ammori, to appeal. The case is set to be heard after the summer break, according to court officials, and comes after a series of earlier legal challenges over the proscription. The decision marks a significant new stage in a dispute that has already drawn in the Home Office, the courts and police.

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The ban came into force in July 2025 after then Home Secretary Yvette Cooper acted on advice from police and security officials. The Home Office has argued that the group's activities justified proscription, while the BBC understands Ammori's appeal is based on the claim that the ban breaches human rights. The full reasons for the appeal have not yet been published, but the Supreme Court's decision to expedite the case means it will be heard relatively soon after the court returns.

The legal fight has already moved through the High Court and the Court of Appeal. The High Court initially ruled that the ban was unlawful, but five judges at the Court of Appeal later overturned that decision and unanimously found that the home secretary had acted lawfully and within her powers. The Supreme Court will now examine that ruling, giving the case potential to reshape how terrorism legislation is applied to protest groups in the UK.

The dispute matters because it sits at the intersection of national security law, protest rights and the limits of state power. The eventual outcome could have major implications for terrorism legislation in the UK, particularly where the government seeks to use proscription powers against a political protest movement. It also comes at a time when the ban has already triggered wider public protest and legal uncertainty.

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The background to the case includes a series of break-ins targeting Elbit, an Israeli-owned defence firm, which officials say escalated before the ban was imposed. The first major trial linked to the group ended only weeks ago, with four members of a break-in team jailed after causing more than £1m of damage to a defence firm near Bristol with an Israeli parent company. One of those defendants was also sentenced for grievous bodily harm after a police officer was hit with a sledgehammer.

The wider fallout is still unfolding. More than 2,000 people are facing potential trial for protesting against the ban by declaring support for a proscribed terrorism group at mass demonstrations, and 117 protesters were arrested outside Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday, mostly for expressing support for the group. It remains unclear how quickly the Supreme Court will move beyond the expedited hearing after the summer break, and whether its ruling will settle the legal dispute or trigger further challenges.

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