A three-day judicial review of the Government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action begins today

Amnesty International UK and Liberty are intervening in the case

‘The proscription of Palestine Action was an enormous overreach of the UK’s terrorism powers and should never have happened’ - Kerry Moscogiuri

The UK government’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action was a disproportionate misuse of the UK’s terrorism powers and should be overturned, Amnesty International UK said, ahead of the three-day judicial review hearing that begins today (Wednesday 26 November).

The proscription of Palestine Action as a “terrorist group” came into effect on 5 July 2025. Since then, more than 2,200 arrests have been made under terrorism legislation and 254 people have been charged with terrorism offences solely for participating in peaceful protests.

Amnesty and Liberty are acting as interveners in the case and will argue that the proscription of Palestine Action represents a substantial departure from established responses to protest movements which use direct action tactics and breaches Articles 10 & 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights – which protect freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association. 

Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s Director of Campaigns and Communications, said:

“The proscription of Palestine Action was an enormous overreach of the UK’s terrorism powers and should never have happened.

“The UK has a deeply flawed and overly broad definition of terrorism which human rights monitors including Amnesty International have been warning about for years. Palestine Action’s proscription only serves to highlight that those warnings were justified.

“The consequences of the proscription decision have been chilling. Over the past four months, organisations have been silenced and thousands of people have been arrested for sitting peacefully with placards saying they support Palestine Action.

“The Government must wake up and realise that the world is watching, and that people are extremely disturbed by the erosion of protest rights in the UK.”