Palestine Action: Prosecutions
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made with the Secretary of State for the Home Department of the cost to the public purse of prosecutions brought under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 in relation to members and supporters of Palestine Action, broken down by the costs to (a) the Crown Prosecution Service, (b) the HM Courts and Tribunal Service including (i) the costs of sittings and (ii) ancillary costs including training additional magistrates to hear terrorism cases and (c) counter terrorism police to attend court; and how many court sessions have been held to hear these cases.
Answered by Sarah Sackman
Between 5 July 2025 and 20 February 2026 a total of 629 defendants were received at magistrates’ courts in cases flagged as related to the Palestine Action Group. Of these, 562 have had a first hearing at a magistrates’ court, with those hearings taking place over 23 calendar days. It is not possible to identify the exact number of court sittings or to calculate the court sitting costs associated with these specific cases because multiple hearings for other offences and defendants may take place within the same court session or sitting day.
It is not possible to identify the ancillary costs to HM Courts and Tribunals Service that specifically relate to these cases. Information on costs incurred by the Crown Prosecution Service and by police forces is not held by the Ministry of Justice.
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