Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori said the decision “is very significant and marks the first time a proscription of a group has been separately legally challenged in Scotland. It could lead to a constitutional crisis.”
A judge at Scotland’s highest civil court has agreed that a judicial review of the UK government’s ban on the Palestine Action movement can go ahead.
The petition for a judicial review was lodged by former British diplomat Craig Murray, who argued that the ban which began last July across the UK, was beyond the scope of then home secretary Yvette Cooper, according to reports, with Scotland having its own legal system.
I GOT THE JUDICIAL REVIEW IN SCOTLAND!!!!!!!
Of the legality in Scots law of the proscription of Palestine Action in Scotland.
Full judicial review 17 to 18 March at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
The judge Lord Young’s decision just landed.
— Craig Murray (@CraigMurrayOrg) January 27, 2026
Palestine Action was proscribed under the Terrorism Act, resulting in the arrests of hundreds of people during protest action in support of the banned movement across the UK, many holding signs that read: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action.”
The group, established in 2020, gained prominence for protest action targeting Israeli defense companies and their British affiliates.
‘Ban Could Cease to Apply in Scotland’
Lord Young’s decision on Tuesday paves the way for a procedural hearing scheduled for February 23 with a two-day substantive hearing on March 17 and 18.
Glasgow-based newspaper The National reported that if the court “finds the proscription unlawful, the ban could cease to apply in Scotland.”
A legal bid to overturn the Palestine Action proscription through the Scottish courts has passed a major milestone
Here’s the latest and what happens next 👇 pic.twitter.com/EMcNROupyC
— The National (@ScotNational) January 27, 2026
The judge reportedly said: “I am satisfied that it is appropriate to grant permission for this judicial review to proceed in Scotland notwithstanding the existence of English proceedings which are at a more advanced stage.”
Murray had lodged a petition for a formal review of the UK government’s decision in October.
Separate Judicial Review
Following a previous hearing earlier this month, Murray said outside the court: “People in Scotland are being accused of terrorism when they’re entirely law-abiding people.”
“Why would the people of Scotland be entirely dependent on a court in London which has no jurisdiction here for deciding whether this is legal or not?”
‘Days Left to Live’ – Police Detain Protesters as Palestine Action Hunger Striker Faces Death
A separate judicial review challenging Cooper’s decision is currently underway in England and Wales.
In an address to parliament last year, Cooper cited an attack on the arms company Thales in Glasgow in 2022; another at arms firm Instro Precision in Kent and Elbit Systems UK in Bristol for the decision to proscribe Palestine Action.
She claimed that “Such acts do not represent legitimate acts of protest and the level of seriousness of Palestine Action’s activity has met the test for proscription under the Terrorism Act 2000.”
‘Constitutional Crisis’
Palestine Action co-founder Huda Ammori welcomed the significance of the Scottish judge’s decision on Tuesday.
“This is very significant and marks the first time a proscription of a group has been separately legally challenged in Scotland. It could lead to a constitutional crisis,” Ammori stated on X.
This is very significant and marks the first time a proscription of a group has been separately legally challenged in Scotland.
It could lead to a constitutional crisis. https://t.co/cFNdN4IqHl
— Huda Ammori (@HudaAmmori) January 27, 2026
Mick Napier of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (SPSC) reportedly said the judgment “offers real hope that the judicial review scheduled for March 17 and 18 will halt this escalating madness by challenging the wholesale arrests of peaceful protesters.”
Hunger Strike Ended
Meanwhile, the last Palestine Action-affiliated hunger striker, Umer Khalid has ended his protest, according to reports.
At a Prisoners for Palestine press conference on Tuesday, Saeed Taji Farouky, a British-Palestinian film-maker and educator, reportedly said that Khalid has “agreed to the very slow, dangerous process of refeeding and he’s drinking again,” adding that he was “successful in his hunger strike. Most of his demands were accepted.”
Umer Khalid, a 22-year-old British pro-Palestine activist, has ended his hunger and thirst strike after being rushed to intensive care, with doctors warning he was hours away from death as his organs began to fail.
Held on remand at Wormwood Scrubs Prison, Khalid refused food… pic.twitter.com/E9vYiFz5bI
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) January 28, 2026
Al Mayadeen reported that Khalid “had been granted a meeting with the prison governor, and as a result, had received his previously withheld mail and clothes, while restrictions on his prison visits, in place since he was imprisoned awaiting trial in July 2025, were also lifted.”
Khalid began the hunger strike along with seven others in November in protest against charges for alleged criminal damage and break-ins related to Palestine Action. The charges have all been denied by the hunger strikers.
Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, which began in October 2023, has killed over 71,600 Palestinians and injured more than 171,000, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. A US-backed ceasefire implemented in October last year has been violated by Israel more than 1,300 times.
(PC, Various Sources)
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