700 prosecutions for backing Palestine Action to go ahead after terror ban upheld

More than 700 criminal cases against people accused of supporting Palestine Action look set to go ahead after the group’s ban as a terrorist organisation was upheld by the Court of Appeal.

Police have made mass arrests at multiple protests since the decision in June 2025 by then-home secretary Yvette Cooper to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.

At the demonstrations, protesters have typically held up placards, worn T-shirts, and donned badges declaring “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”, leading to their arrests under anti-terrorism legislation.

In February, the High Court ruled that proscription had been done unlawfully, raising the prospect of hundreds of criminal cases being washed away.

However, the Court of Appeal overturned that decision on Monday, ruling that Ms Cooper’s ban was lawful and based on a reasonable belief that Palestine Action was “currently concerned in terrorism”.

More than 700 people have already been charged with supporting a proscribed organisation under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000, while hundreds more have been arrested and are awaiting a charging decision.

The Chief Magistrate, Judge Paul Goldspring, put the live prosecutions on hold after the High Court ruling.

He is due to hold a review hearing on June 30 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, to consider whether the criminal cases will now go ahead.

Dozens of days of court time have already been allocated in the autumn and winter to hear the trials at magistrates’ courts around London, and if prosecutions go forward the courts will have to allocate more time to hear cases.

The Metropolitan Police temporarily paused its arrests of activists holding placards after the High Court ruling, before resuming the practice again while the Home Office pursued its appeal.

Those arrested will now be braced for possible criminal charges and legal proceedings.

In her judgment on Monday the Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, recognised that the Palestine Action terror ban would have a “chilling effect” on pro-Palestine protests, dissuading some from getting involved in lawful demonstrations for fear that they would accidentally break the terrorism laws.

But she added that the ban “will not prevent public expressions of support for the Palestinian cause or opposition to Israel and to the Israeli Defence Force, or demonstrations targeted at Elbit”.

The judge set out that the ban creates a “substantial interference” with rights to protest and freedom of expression.

But she said that it gives law enforcement agencies tough powers to crack down on an organisation which is secretive, has stated aims to “shut down” Elbit Systems as well as to target associated businesses, and has not denounced violent and terrorist acts committed by its members.

“Proscription directly attacks both the covert and the overt activity in a way that the ordinary criminal law may not”, the judge ruled.

“Proscription inhibits recruitment and fundraising; it undermines the ability of an organisation to function.”

Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori has vowed to appeal against the Court of Appeal decision to the UK Supreme Court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.