United Kingdom - Court of Appeal (Civil Division), The Queen (on the application of D4) (Notice of Deprivation of Citizenship) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Case No. CA-2021-000739, 26/01/2022

Facts:

The applicant, who holds both British and Pakistani citizenships, was deprived of her British citizenship on national security grounds on 27 December 2019. The applicant had also been detained in Syria since January 2019. When her lawyers requested the British administration’s assistance in repatriating her, the Home Office informed them of the deprivation order. This was the first time the applicant had been informed of her citizenship loss. She appealed the decision to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission claiming that Regulation 10(4) of the British Nationality (General) Regulations 2003 was ultra vires, and that the deprivation order was thus void. The appeal was granted but the Home Secretary appealed that decision.

Decision & reasoning:

According to the national legislation, the Secretary of State must give written notice to the person before taking a deprivation order. Besides that, the Secretary of State may serve a decision to deprive individuals of their citizenship under certain circumstances when the person's whereabouts or addresses are not known.

In this context, the Court primarily considered that although there is an exception of deemed notice, a written notice is required as a general rule. Secondly, the Court considered that the decision had simply been put on the file, and further steps to inform and communicate with the applicant were not taken. It stated that this approach refers to conferring wide powers to the Home Secretary. Therefore, the Court found the application of Regulation 10(4) of the British Nationality (General) Regulations ultra vires.

Outcome:

The appeal by the Home Secretary is dismissed.

Observations/comments:

This summary was written by Ekin Sakin, student at the Human Rights and Migration Law Clinic at the University of Gent.