Palestine Action terror ban was lawful, Court of Appeal rules

The decision to ban Palestine Action as a terror group was lawful, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

Three judges at the High Court ruled in February that the then-home secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act 2000 last year was unlawful, following a legal challenge from the group’s co-founder, Huda Ammori.

The ban, which began on July 5 last year, made membership of, or support for, the direct action group a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison, and has remained in force as the Home Office attempted to challenge the ruling.

At the Court of Appeal on Monday, five judges said the ban was a “justified and proportionate” interference on freedom of expression rights and overturned a ruling which was set to quash it.

In a summary of the decision, the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said the High Court had “materially understated the position” when considering how much latitude the Home Secretary had when deciding whether to proscribe.

The judge later said that comparisons to groups such as the suffragettes were “seriously flawed”.

Baroness Carr, sitting with Sir Geoffrey Vos, Lord Justice Edis, Lord Justice Lewis and Lady Justice Whipple, continued: “There is a distinction between the expression of an opinion or belief that is supportive of the objective of an organisation… and an expression of an opinion or belief that is supportive of an organisation itself.”

She added it was accepted that there are many people who may be subjected to a “chilling effect as a direct result of this proscription decision”.

Daily Record Homepage: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/

Daily Record Facebook: https://facebook.com/TheScottishDailyRecord
Daily Record Instagram: https://instagram.com/scottishdailyrecord
Daily Record Sport Instagram: https://instagram.com/dailyrecord_sport
Daily Record TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@scottishdailyrecord
Daily Record Sport TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@dailyrecord_sport
Daily Record Twitter: https://twitter.com/Daily_Record
Daily Record Newsletters: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/newsletter-preference-centre/

Join our WhatsApp communities here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages:

DAILY RECORD: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/join-daily-records-whatsapp-community-31116469

RECORD SPORT RANGERS: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/join-record-sports-new-rangers-31111892

RECORD SPORT CELTIC: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/join-record-sports-new-celtic-31111589

You can get all the latest news, sport, showbiz and comment at DailyRecord.co.uk

LIKE | COMMENT | SUBSCRIBE | SHARE
#DailyRecord #TBA #TBA