Key passages from judgment in challenge brought by Huda Ammori, which failed on two grounds but succeeded on two
Huda Ammori, one of the co-founders of Palestine Action, has successfully challenged a decision by the UK government to ban the group under the Terrorism Act 2000. The high court allowed or accepted Ammori’s claim on two grounds (2 and 6) and dismissed it on two others (5 and 8). However, the judges made it clear that the ban remains in place for now and the government will appeal. The Metropolitan police indicated officers were unlikely to arrest people simply for showing support for Palestine Action until the legal situation was clarified. Here are the key passages from Friday’s judgment.
“The home secretary’s approach to ‘other factors’ was not consistent with her policy.”
Under Home Office policy, organisations can be banned, or proscribed, only if this is proportionate. Such decisions have to take account of five factors, including the nature and scale of the organisation’s activities and the specific threat they pose.
“We are satisfied that the decision to proscribe Palestine Action was disproportionate. At its core, Palestine Action is an organisation that promotes its political cause through criminality and encouragement of criminality. A very small number of its actions have amounted to terrorist action within the definition at section 1(1) of the 2000 Act.”
