This time last year, London’s courts saw a surge in protest cases after an anti-migrant rally in Whitehall turned violent. Tomorrow, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer faces another mass injection into the creaking justice system. On Saturday (August 9), more than 500 people are set to defy terror legislation by declaring support for Palestine Action in Parliament Square.
The civil disobedience group was outlawed by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on July 5, two weeks after four people (including two Londoners) allegedly caused £7 million in damage to aircraft at RAF Brize Norton. In legal arguments to the high court before it was proscribed, Palestine Action said it does not advocate for violence, claiming its goal is to put itself ‘in the way of the military machine’.
Palestinians have reportedly faced human rights abuses due to Israeli occupation for more than 50 years. On October 7 2023, Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,195 and taking 251 hostages. Israel retaliated with an air and ground assault on Gaza, displacing 1.9 million and killing at least 62,000. A United Nations Special Committee likened Israel’s response to genocide using starvation as a weapon of war.
On the afternoon of the ban, dozens of people flocked to Parliament Square for a silent protest holding placards stating ‘I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action’. There were 29 arrests. This week the Met announced three charges, under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000. A man, aged 71, and two women, aged 53 and 71, will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court in September.
Defend Our Juries, the group organising the protests, say more than 200 people have been arrested for Section 12 and 13 terror offences across the UK since the ban came into force, including 130 in London. It is understood most suspects have been released under investigation or on bail. Like Palestine Action, Defend Our Juries says it does not celebrate or encourage violence.
Amnesty International wrote to the Met on Wednesday (August 6), warning further arrests would ‘violate international human rights law’ and be a ‘reckless use of police power’. The charity argues protest speech can only be criminalised if it incites violence, or advocates hatred or discrimination’, while ECHR case law says placards should not be restricted unless in exceptional circumstances.
Defend Our Juries also highlights the bulging prison population, operating at about 99 per cent capacity. “Is Mark Rowley really going to spend his political capital and credibility as well as significant public resources on arresting more grandparents and NHS workers under the Terrorism Act in front of the world’s press?” a spokesperson asked.
Film director Mike Leigh, children’s author Michael Rosen, and the PM’s former legal instructor Geoffrey Bindman KC, are among the British Jews who have opposed the ban on Palestine Action. Last week a high court ruling gave permission to the co-founder of Palestine Action to bring a legal challenge to group’s ban.
Will police and courts be able to cope?
According to a Mayoral Question published in June 2024, Met Detention’s cell availability stands at 23 custody suites and 774 cells, plus eight contingency suites. On average, the Met made 264 arrests a day in the year to March 2024, according to Home Office data.
Meanwhile, the courts backlog is running at a 25-year high, with about 77,000 cases waiting to be heard and trials listed for 2029. This week London’s Victims Commissioner Claire Waxman OBE said she had learned of a rape case due to be heard in 2030.
This weekend will be extra busy for the Met too, as the force polices asylum seeker hotel protests in Canary Wharf and Clerkenwell on Friday, a mass demonstration by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign on Saturday, and the FA Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday.
Graham Wettone, a retired Met Police officer, told The Telegraph the force has limited cell space, so may seek to take arrested people outside of London, but if thousands turn up ‘they will not be able to arrest and process everyone’.
As the latest terror charges were announced this week, Commander Dominic Murphy sent out a warning shot to would-be lawbreakers, telling them ‘to think about the potential criminal consequences of their actions’.
On Friday afternoon, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan accused Defend Our Juries organisers of aiming to put a strain on police and the justice system, while also insisting the force has the resources and processes in place to cope with ‘any eventuality’.
“Anyone showing support for Palestine Action can expect to be arrested,” warned DAC Adelekan, “I would once again urge people to consider the seriousness of that outcome. An arrest under the Terrorism Act can have very real long-term implications – from travel, to employment, to finances. Also, as we have seen this week, it is very likely an arrest in these circumstances will lead to a charge.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson told The Guardian: “The criminal justice system will always be ready to deal with sudden surges coming through the courts.”
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