Britain’s High Court dealt a significant legal blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer‘s government Friday, ruling that its decision to designate pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization was unlawful, throwing into doubt the prosecutions of nearly 3,000 people arrested under the proscription.
A three-judge panel led by Dame Victoria Sharp, sitting with Mr. Justice Swift and Mrs. Justice Steyn, delivered a 46-page judgment finding that the Home Secretary had made a significant error by breaching her own policies and that the ban constituted a disproportionate interference with the right to freedom of expression and assembly.
The court found that “the nature and scale of Palestine Action’s activities” did not meet “the level, scale and persistence” that would justify proscription under British terrorism legislation. Despite making the finding of unlawfulness, the three judges declined to lift the ban immediately, keeping it in place pending a government appeal.
A further hearing has been set for February 20, at which the court will determine whether grounds exist for the government to pursue an appeal. That process could extend for months or potentially years, leaving those arrested under the ban in legal limbo during the intervening period.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would contest the ruling. “I intend to fight this judgment in the Court of Appeal,” she said in a statement. The ruling represents an embarrassing reversal for a government that had made the proscription a centerpiece of its response to pro-Palestinian activism following the Hamas-Israel conflict.
Palestine Action was founded in 2020 by Huda Ammori and climate activist Richard Barnard, initially focusing on disrupting operations at British facilities linked to Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest defense company. Since its founding, the group has occupied, blockaded, spray-painted, and disrupted facilities linked to Israeli and international arms manufacturers operating in the United Kingdom.
The government moved to proscribe the group in July 2025, placing it on the same legal footing as Islamic State and al-Qaeda, shortly after activists breached the perimeter of RAF Brize Norton in June and sprayed red paint into the engines of two tanker aircraft, causing additional damage with crowbars. Starmer described that action as disgraceful.
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The government also cited a 2024 raid on an Elbit Systems factory in which prosecutors alleged activists caused approximately one million pounds in damage and a police officer was struck with a sledgehammer.
Despite acknowledging the group’s methods, the court drew a clear distinction between criminality and terrorism. Sharp said in her judgment that Palestine Action “promotes its political cause through criminality and encouragement of criminality” but concluded that proscription was nonetheless disproportionate.
Ammori, who brought the judicial review challenge with legal representation from Garden Court Chambers, described the ruling as “a monumental victory both for our fundamental freedoms here in Britain and in the struggle for freedom for the Palestinian people, striking down a decision that will forever be remembered as one of the most extreme attacks on free speech in recent British history.”
She said the ban had resulted in the unlawful arrests of nearly 2,787 people, “among them priests, vicars, former magistrates and retired doctors,” who had done nothing more than hold signs in support of the group at silent vigils across Britain. She warned that any government attempt to delay implementation of the court’s proposed order quashing the ban would be “profoundly unjust” while thousands of people faced potential terrorism charges.
The most common sign carried at solidarity protests read “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” with demonstrators arrested under terrorism provisions for displaying it publicly.
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Campaign group Defend Our Juries called for an immediate meeting between the Home Secretary and London’s Metropolitan Police commissioner, urging them to address the treatment of those unlawfully arrested and charged under the proscription.
London’s Metropolitan Police said following the judgment that it would focus on gathering evidence where people expressed support for Palestine Action rather than making arrests, effectively suspending enforcement pending the appeal outcome.
Outside the Royal Courts of Justice, approximately 100 supporters who had gathered in anticipation of the ruling erupted in cheers and chants of “Free Palestine” when the decision was announced, with some in tears. Notably, those carrying Palestine Action signs outside the court were not arrested despite a heavy police presence, a visible demonstration of the ruling’s immediate practical effect.
Yasmine Ahmed, UK director of Human Rights Watch, welcomed the ruling while noting the ban’s continued temporary operation. Civil liberties groups including Amnesty International had consistently called for the proscription to be reversed, arguing it set a dangerous precedent for the use of counter-terrorism powers against political protest movements.
Irish novelist Sally Rooney had previously warned that her public support for Palestine Action could expose her to prosecution and potentially lead to her books being withdrawn from sale in the United Kingdom.
The ruling places fresh pressure on the Starmer government, which has faced criticism from significant sections of its own Labour parliamentary base over its position on the Gaza conflict. A sharp divide has emerged between government policy, which has declined to characterize Israel’s military campaign as a genocide and has maintained diplomatic support, and wider public opinion on the conflict.
The February 20 hearing will determine the legal pathway forward for both the appeal and the status of pending prosecutions.