Huda Ammori asked the UK Supreme Court on Wednesday to overturn the ban on Palestine Action, arguing that proscription threatens protected expression and assembly in a case testing the government’s use of terrorism law.
The two-day hearing, before five justices, is scheduled for Nov. 4-5. The court agreed to hear whether the ban is compatible with Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect expression and assembly. It refused permission for a separate challenge to the Home Secretary’s policy.
Ammori’s lawyer, Raza Husain KC, argued that the suffragettes and other protest movements had used tactics similar to or more extreme than those attributed to Palestine Action. The Court of Appeal rejected that comparison, saying the group had little in common with the suffragettes.
The government says serious property damage justified the proscription. In a statement to Parliament, then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper cited incidents at Thales in Glasgow in 2022, Instro Precision in Kent in 2024 and Elbit Systems UK in Bristol in 2024. She said damage across the three cases amounted to millions of pounds. The Terrorism Act 2000 includes serious damage to property in its definition of terrorism.
Cooper said the measure applied specifically to Palestine Action and would not affect lawful groups campaigning on Palestine or the Middle East. She called peaceful protest “a cornerstone of our democracy.”
The case has moved through two lower courts. A three-judge Divisional Court ruled for Ammori in February 2026, finding the decision unlawful on policy and human-rights grounds. The Court of Appeal reversed that decision in June, upholding the ban as lawful and proportionate.
EconoTimes previously reported on plans for a London protest ahead of the appeal. The hearing is scheduled to continue through Thursday, Nov. 5; the court has not listed a date for its decision.
