LONDON: The High Court of Justice has ruled that the UK government’s designation of the pro-Palestinian rights group Palestine Action as a “terrorist organisation” was unlawful.
Huda Ammori challenged the ban in a trial at the High Court in London, where judges ruled on Friday that the group’s proscription under counter-terror laws was unlawful.
“The High Court ruled the Palestine Action ban is unlawful as it is disproportionate to free speech and the Home Secretary breached her own policy,” Ammori said on X.
BREAKING: WE WON.
The High Court ruled the Palestine Action ban is unlawful as it is disproportionate to free speech and the Home Secretary breached her own policy.
The court ordered the ban be quashed. Details of lifting the ban will be decided and completed at a later date.
— Huda Ammori (@HudaAmmori) February 13, 2026
“The court ordered the ban be quashed. Details of lifting the ban will be decided and completed at a later date.”
In its ruling, the court observed that the group’s proscription was “disproportionate.” It noted that “the nature and scale of its activities falling within the definition of terrorism had not yet reached the level, scale and persistence to warrant proscription.”
The group, Palestine Action, was initially banned in July 2025 under the Terrorism Act. The designation followed an incident in which members breached a Royal Air Force base, spray-painting two aircraft and causing an estimated £7 million ($9.44 million) in damages, according to police reports.
Since the ban was enacted, hundreds of pro-Palestine activists have been arrested across the UK.
High Court ruling welcomed
Rights groups and campaigners have welcomed the High Court ruling. Tom Southerden, Amnesty International UK’s law and human rights director, termed the judgment a “vital affirmation of the right to protest.”
“The high court’s decision sends a clear message: the government cannot simply reach for sweeping counter-terrorism powers to silence critics or suppress dissent … it draws an important line in the sand against attempts to narrow the democratic space and undermine public confidence in the right to speak out,” he said in a statement.
Greenpeace UK’s co-executive director, Areeba Hamid, described the government’s move to ban the protest group as “the stuff of dystopian novels.”
“Arresting thousands of protesters – many of them pensioners holding nothing more than signs – is almost satirical,” she added. “We hope this ruling provides a much-needed reality check.”
Meanwhile, Yasmine Ahmed, UK director of Human Rights Watch, urged a “thorough and independent investigation” into the government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action.
Despite the ruling, the proscription remains temporarily in place to allow for further legal arguments, meaning the group will continue to be treated as a banned organisation for the immediate future.
During a three-day hearing at the High Court, lawyers representing Ammori said the ban was without precedent and likened Palestine Action to the suffragette movement.
