According to the ruling, a decision on the appeal has been adjourned to 20 May.

The court is seeking assurances from the US.

In the event that none are filed, the appeal will be granted.

Julian Assange faces a further wait to find out whether his appeal against his extradition to the United States has been granted after the High Court adjourned their decision.

The High Court ruling has now been published and we're working to bring you all the details, and interpret what it means.

Stay with us.

We are expecting to receive the Royal Courts of Justice's written judgement.

It will be published on the Judiciary's website and we will have a team of journalists poring over the details and what it all means.

Stay with us as we bring you what comes out of it.

This could have two outcomes: a full appeal hearing to be held again for Assange or his final option of having to go to the European Court of Human Rights to appeal the case against him.

But if that last option doesn’t work Assange can be extradited to the US, something he has been battling against for five years.

He has been in Belmarsh prison in London since his arrest in 2019 at the request of US authorities.

In a January 2021 ruling, a district judge said that Assange should not be sent to the US, citing a real and "oppressive" risk of suicide.

However, the judge ruled against him on all other issues, including the argument that he was acting as a journalist.

If Assange is refused permission to appeal, his only opportunity to avoid being sent to the US is to ask the European Court of Human Rights to stop the flight.

If he wins permission, he will have a full appeal hearing again.

Ellie Price
Reporting from the High Court

Image source, AFP

We're less than 20 minutes away from what could be the final ruling in the extradition of Julian Assange at the Royal Courts of Justice.

There are dozens of protesters here, calling for Assange’s release.

And almost as many journalists.

The case has attracted international attention not least in the US and the UK, but also his home country of Australia.

Image source, PA Media

Today's ruling is due to be given at 10:30 GMT.

During February’s hearings, Julian Assange's legal team argued that he was being targeted for his exposure of "state-level crimes" and his punishment was "politically motivated".

But lawyers from the US pushed back, saying that through revealing the names of his sources on WikiLeaks, Assange "put lives at risk".

After a newspaper report said that the US Department of Justice was considering allowing Assange to plead guilty to lower his sentence, his legal team said they saw no hint of resolution to the case against him.

Scores of his supporters gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London over the two-day hearing in February.

With just half an hour until the ruling is given, supporters of Julian Assange, journalists and camera crews have begun gathering outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.

Those demonstrating repeatedly chant "free, free Julian Assange" and carry placards bearing the same words and an image of the WikiLeaks founder.

Several police officers man the perimeter of the crowd.

This has been quite the journey in the last ten years and we’ve been following it closely on the BBC.

Last month, Assange’s lawyers said the US case against him was "state retaliation" and therefore extradition would be against UK law.

But the US legal team told the court Assange faces allegations he encouraged and assisted Chelsea Manning, a US intelligence analyst, in obtaining around 400,000 Iraq war-related activity reports and 250,000 US State Department cables.

The US team also claimed because Assange disclosed the names of his sources, he "put those individuals at grave risk of harm".

The Wikileak founder’s actions were also described as "one of the largest compromises of classified information in the history of the United States".

• Read more here.

Image source, Reuters

Stella Assange, the wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, says she's on her way to the Royal Courts of Justice

"If Julian loses this round, it will be the end of the road of the UK courts," she writes on X, external.

Last month Stella told the BBC that the stress caused by the case had left her husband physically and mentally "in a very difficult place".

She added that: "This case will determine if he lives or dies, essentially.”

Stella has taken to social media to campaign, external Assange’s case, often saying that the ability "to post the truth" and "expose crimes" is at risk.

His wife told BBC Radio 4’s Mishal Husain, external that he won’t survive extradition in February and that it needs to be stopped.

Born in 1971, Julian Assange was raised in various cities throughout Australia before becoming involved in the hacking community.

In 2006, he founded the WikiLeaks website, and went on to publish troves of documents, including many confidential or restricted official reports related to war, spying and corruption.

Then, in 2010, it released a video from a US military helicopter which showed civilians being killed in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

WikiLeaks also published thousands of confidential documents supplied by former US Army intelligence analyst, Chelsea Manning.

In 2019, US authorities charged Assange with 18 offences including breaking into its military databases following publications on the alleged killing of civilians by US forces in Afghanistan.

Assange has been fighting extradition to the US ever since.

Emily Atkinson
Live reporter

In less than an hour’s time, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange will learn if he can mount a likely final UK challenge against extradition to the US.

If he loses, his last option would be an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

But if he wins, a full appeal hearing will be held to consider his challenge.

The ruling is due to be given remotely at 10:30 GMT.

Follow our coverage here live.