UK Court of Appeal says decision to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation was lawful, overturning court below

15 June 2026

Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the Home Secretary under the Terrorism Act 2000 in 2025. Huda Ammori, one of Palestine Action’s cofounders, challenged the Home Secretary’s decision in a judicial review. The Divisional Court held that decision was unlawful and quashed it because it contravened the Home Secretary’s policy on proscription and was an unlawful restriction on Palestine Action’s freedom of expression and assembly under the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Court of Appeal has today overturned the Divisional Court’s judgment and held that the Home Secretary’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action was lawful – R (Huda Ammori) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWCA Civ 721; press summary. The Court of Appeal said:

• The Home Secretary did not breach her proscription policy. The policy's purpose was to make certain factors transparent, not to limit the Home Secretary's discretion. She was (contrary to the Divisional Court judgment) entitled to consider the operational benefits of proscription consistently with the policy – for example, that it would allow counter-terrorism police to disrupt and prosecute Palestine Action as a whole network.

• The proscription was (disagreeing with the judgment below) a proportionate restriction on fundamental rights. Palestine Action is not a peaceful protest group, it operated through secret cells designed to avoid detection and did not accept legal consequences for its actions. It is an organisation "concerned in terrorism" under the Terrorism Act 2000, having committed serious property damage meeting the statutory definition of terrorism. Its Underground Manual advocates the disruption, damage and destruction of targets, and covert evasion of law enforcement. Its campaign was escalating, with no sign of restraint, and targeted businesses and key national infrastructure supporting Ukraine, NATO and the UK defence enterprise. Expert assessments indicated it would conduct further terrorist-level property damage in the near year. The Home Secretary was entitled to wide latitude on national security judgments of this kind.

The Court of Appeal rejected Ms Ammori’s application for permission to appeal on 2 points:

• whether the government had a duty to consult Palestine Action before proscribing it; and

• whether the proscription decision discriminated against Palestine Action.

See our UK counterterrorism pages for information about proscription under the Terrorism Act and our UK judgments page for relevant judgments.