The University of Cambridge has failed in an attempt to secure a five-year High Court injunction against Israel and Palestine-related protests on some of its sites.
The university had applied for the injunction to prevent direct action linked to the conflict without its approval at four locations until February 2030.
Lawyers for the university argued at a High Court hearing on Thursday that the injunction was “urgently” required ahead of a graduation ceremony this Saturday.
Mr Justice Fordham dismissed the longer-term application but stated he would grant a “very narrow and limited court order”.
This order will prohibit direct action at Senate House in Cambridge and the lawn in front of it, known as Senate House Yard, where the ceremony is scheduled to take place.
Further details regarding the interim injunction are expected to be clarified in the coming days.
The High Court in London was told that the injunction application came after encampments, organised by the group Cambridge for Palestine, were set up on Senate House Yard in May and November 2024.
Another protest at its Greenwich House site in November 2024 was also presented as evidence.
Mr Justice Fordham rejected the bid for a five-year injunction, adding it was “a matter of significant concern” that the university’s application offered little time for potential interested parties to properly respond.
He later added there had been “sufficient notification” to grant an interim injunction to protect Saturday’s ceremony and that social media posts showed “the identifiable purpose of the action is to disrupt by making it be moved, the graduation ceremony, or as it is put, ‘forcing it’ to be moved”.
Mr Justice Fordham also said the court had not been told about 10 graduation ceremonies that went ahead unimpeded by protests during the relevant May to December 2024 time period.
The university provided evidence of two disrupted ceremonies and three prospective ones.
The judge said: “It was important that the court was given a full factual picture and not simply told about the graduation events that had been disrupted.”
The European Legal Support Centre, whose lawyers challenged the university’s bid, said: “This is a significant victory – one that sends a strong message to other universities attempting to impose such draconian restrictions on freedom of assembly and protest.
“The University of Cambridge’s efforts to undermine its students’ civil liberties – by seeking an injunction to effectively ban expressions of Palestine solidarity both on and off campus until 2030 – represented the broadest restriction on university protests to date.”
A further hearing is expected at a later date.
