The UK Supreme Court has begun hearing a challenge to the proscription of Palestine Action. The appeal is narrower than the broader political debate surrounding the organisation.
In Ammori v Secretary of State for the Home Department, five justices are considering compatibility with freedom of expression and association under Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court has not decided the appeal.
What is before the Court?
The Divisional Court found the proscription decision unlawful on human-rights and policy grounds. The Court of Appeal reversed that result. The Supreme Court subsequently granted permission on the human-rights ground only, refusing permission concerning interpretation and application of the Home Secretary’s policy.
That procedural boundary matters. The hearing should not be described as reopening every issue decided below.
The central discussion concerns proportionality: how the legal effects of proscription are assessed against the security objective advanced to justify it.
For lawyers following the appeal, three questions should remain separate: the statutory power to proscribe, the particular grounds permitted on appeal, and the proportionality analysis within those grounds.
Hearing arrangements do not determine the result
The hearing runs November 4-5. The Court states that the afternoon session on November 5 will be closed to the public and press.
Neither the hearing’s occurrence nor judicial questions amount to a ruling that the proscription is lawful or unlawful.
The eventual judgment will determine the legal outcome. Today’s development is that the permitted human-rights challenge is being heard.
Sources: Supreme Court case page and written arguments; Hearing schedule; Official public-access notice; Counsel’s update.