The co-founder of Palestine Action, Huda Ammori, can challenge the Home Office decision to ban the group as a terrorist organisation at the Supreme Court, court records show.
The Court of Appeal ruled in June that the decision last year to proscribe the group under the Terrorism Act 2000 was lawful, overturning a High Court decision in February that the ban should be quashed.
Ammori sought to take the case to the Supreme Court, challenging the ban on the basis that then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper had incorrectly applied her own policy, and that it interfered with freedom of speech and freedom of association.
On Thursday, the Supreme Court website stated that justices Lord Sales, Lord Leggatt and Lady Simler had given Ammori the green light to challenge the ban on the basis that Cooper had incorrectly applied the policy.
Permission to challenge the decision based on interference with freedom of speech and freedom of association was refused.
The case is to be expedited, court records show, with a hearing expected between October 1 and December 21.
Following the decision, Ammori said: “The Supreme Court’s decision to grant permission to appeal comes as hundreds more ordinary people are arrested today under terror laws simply for saying that they oppose genocide and support Palestine Action, adding to the more than 3,500 arrests to date for this entirely peaceful protest.
“Many more were reportedly arrested today despite not expressing support for Palestine Action, including people who were simply setting up a stage or reading poems about Gaza.
“This further evidences our case that the proscription of Palestine Action has become a vehicle for a far broader crackdown on expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people.
“This unprecedented attack on free speech and the right to protest in this country is already having a chilling effect at a time when speaking out about Israel’s crimes could not be more urgent.”
The update in the legal challenge came after police arrested 77 people at a protest outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London for expressing support for the protest group.
Hundreds gathered outside the court where more than 2,000 cases related to supporting the group had been due to be heard on Thursday.
But their cases had been adjourned to October earlier this week.
Protesters shouting “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action” were detained by police, while demonstrators shouted “shame on you” and “under what power?”.
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “Officers have arrested 77 people. The majority of arrests have been for expressing support for a proscribed organisation.
“Four people have been arrested for encouraging or assisting a criminal offence. Police officers remain at the scene and continue to make arrests.”
Court officials confirmed that all cases relating to Palestine Action have been adjourned until October 26, to await the outcome of the Supreme Court appeal over the proscription of the group as a terrorism organisation.
Defendants who had travelled from Yorkshire, Wales and Merseyside complained of “chaos”, and told officials they had not been told their hearing was not taking place.
The courts service now faces a bill running to thousands of pounds to compensate the defendants who travelled unnecessarily.
The session on October 26 will also be administrative, rather than a full court hearing, and defendants are being advised to look out for a letter with the date they next need to be in court.
Claire Jeffrey, 52, travelled to court from Edinburgh and said she had not been told her hearing had been adjourned.
She told the Press Association: “Scotland’s a long way. It’s expensive to come here, and we have to rearrange commitments.
“It’s just really frustrating to… be told you’re on a court roll, and then you turn up, and they’re like, ‘No, you’re not’.
“So it’s really discombobulating and frustrating.”
Marji Mansfield, 69, from Chichester, West Sussex, described the confusion around the court process as “very stressful”.
In a letter received from the court, she said she had been told she “must attend” for her first hearing, scheduled for Thursday morning.
But the letter also said: “Please do not attend court on July 30 unless you receive further instructions directly from Westminster Magistrates’ Court.”
Mansfield told PA: “It has been very difficult (managing) normal family life. I have grandchildren, a husband, children.
“It’s been very, very difficult. It’s been stressful. It’s been very expensive coming backwards and forwards, sleepless nights.”
Protesters outside court, many dressed in red or wearing a keffiyeh, waved the Palestinian flag and held placards, chanting “free, free Palestine”.
The demonstration was initially designed to replicate a graduation ceremony, where those supporting the pro-Palestinian cause would be given a certificate for “defending fundamental freedoms”.
But this was halted by police when two protesters were arrested in the process of constructing a small platform.
The stage, the certificates and a series of posters were confiscated.
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