The Crown Prosecution Service in the UK is to appeal a recent decision to throw out the terror case against Kneecap band member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh.
Last May, Mr Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terror offence, following an allegation that he displayed a Hezbollah flag at a gig in north London last November.
He denied the charge and the case was thrown out last month.
At Woolwich Crown Court, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring agreed with Mr Ó hAnnaidh’s lawyers, who argued that the Attorney General (AG) had not given permission for the case to be brought against the defendant when police informed him he was to face a terror charge on 21 May.
However, it is understood that the CPS believes that permission from the AG only had to be obtained by the point at which the case proceeded in court.
A Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson said: “We are appealing the decision to dismiss this case as we believe there is an important point of law which needs to be clarified.”
If the High Court agrees with this interpretation, it is understood that it has the power to direct that the case proceeds.
In his judgment last month, Mr Goldspring found that “these proceedings were not instituted in the correct form, lacking the necessary DPP and AG consent within the six-month statutory time limit set by section 127”.
“The time limit requires consent to have been granted at the time or before the issue of the requisition.
“Consequently the charge is unlawful and null and this court has no jurisdiction to try the charge,” he said.