Supreme Court rejects appeal by two charged with supporting Hamas

The UK Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by individuals accused of expressing support for Hamas, which attempted to suggest a section of the UK’s Terrorism Act was incompatible with European Convention on Human Rights’ Freedom of Expression laws.

In a unanimous decision on Thursday from the five senior judges hearing the case, the notion that the terms of section 12(1A) Terrorism Act 2000 represented a disproportionate interference with the appellant’s rights under Article 10 of the ECHR was dismissed. Neither of the appellants have yet had their cases heard, meaning that the Supreme Court named neither of them directly in its ruling.

The first individual, designated by the Supreme Court as “ABJ”, was arrested on 12 October 2023 in connection with a speech she had made at a Palestine Solidarity Campaign event in Brighton on 8 October, regarding what had happened in Israel the previous day. In a separate incident, the second individual, designated “BDN” had held up a placard outside Downing Street on 17 October, after which he made a speech through a loudhailer. He was arrested later that day elsewhere in the Westminster area.

Both were subsequently charged with “expressing support for a proscribed organisation contrary to section 12(1A) Terrorism Act 2000”.

Further details regarding the case relating to each of the appellants can be read in section 2 of the Supreme Court’s judgement.

The decision means that, as stated by Lord Reed of Allermuir, President of the Court, “there is no need for trial courts to carry out separate proportionality assessments to ensure that each defendant’s conviction [in the event of a guilty verdict] is compatible with article 10.”

While a part of Hamas was proscribed in 2001, the group was proscribed in its entirety as a terrorist organisation in 2021, following an assessment, as the Supreme Court said in its written judgement, “that there was no sound reason to distinguish between Hamas’s military and political wings”.

Speaking to Jewish News, an individual who filmed “ABJ” speaking at the PSC event in October 2023 described the Supreme Court’s judgment as “a huge relief”.

“I have felt failed by the legal system again and again”, he said. “Now I feel like we might get justice.”

As of the time of writing, there is no indication regarding a trial date for either of the two individuals charged.