The Court of Appeal has ruled that the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was lawful, reversing an earlier High Court judgment and delivering one of the most significant national security rulings in recent years.
Five senior judges, led by Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, concluded that ministers had acted within their legal powers when banning the group and that the decision struck a “fair balance” between national security considerations and the rights of individuals.
The ruling overturns a High Court decision issued in February which found that the ban breached rights relating to protest and had been unlawfully imposed by ministers.
Despite that earlier judgment, Palestine Action remained proscribed while legal challenges continued and the government pursued its appeal.
Under the proscription order, belonging to or supporting Palestine Action is a criminal offence carrying a maximum sentence of 14 years’ imprisonment.
The ban has been highly controversial, with thousands of arrests reported at demonstrations since the proscription came into force in July last year.
In the Court of Appeal’s judgment, Baroness Carr said it was not a “sustainable proposition” to characterise Palestine Action as a non-violent protest organisation.
She stated that the group “overly promotes unlawful violence that amounts to terrorism” and rejected comparisons between Palestine Action and the Suffragette movement.
The court also noted that Palestine Action had neither disowned nor condemned three incidents that ministers had previously assessed as constituting terrorism-related activity.
Judges found that the threat posed by the organisation was a central factor in the Home Secretary’s decision-making process and that ministers were legally entitled to give significant weight to national security concerns.
The judgment highlighted the group’s methods of organisation and its targeting of businesses operating lawfully within the United Kingdom.
The court specifically referenced defence companies involved in supporting UK national defence capabilities and assisting Ukraine, concluding that the Home Secretary was best placed to assess the wider impact of the threats posed.
The ruling represents a major victory for the government and leaves Palestine Action’s proscribed status unchanged.
The organisation is now expected to seek permission to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.