1.
fn11 There is no official information on the exact number of persons deprived of citizenship since 2002. Prior to 2002, the last case of citizenship deprivation was documented in 1974. According to data obtained by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, between 2002 and February 2013, 21 persons were stripped of UK citizenship. See, C. Wood and A. Ross, ‘Medieval Exile: The 21 Britons stripped of their citizenship’ (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 26 February 2013) <http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2013/02/26/medieval-exile-the-21-britons-stripped-of-their-citizenship> accessed 20 October 2013.
2.
fn22 D. Kiwan, ‘A Journey to Citizenship in the United Kingdom’ (2008) 10 International Journal on Multicultural Societies 60; H. Majid, ‘Protecting the Right to Have Rights: The Case of Section 56 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006’ (2008) 22 Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law 27; M. Everson, ‘Subjects’ or ‘Citizens of Erewhon’? Law and Non-Law in the Development of a ‘British Citizenship’ (2003) 7 Citizenship Studies 57.
3.
fn33 The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 [United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland], 2002 Chapter 41, 7 November 2002 (referred to as ‘the 2002 Act’). The Act brought amendments to the British Nationality Act 1981, but did not repeal it.
4.
fn44 Until 2002, registered or naturalized British citizens could have their citizenship withdrawn by an act of the executive on the following grounds: (1) if citizenship had been obtained by fraud, misrepresentation or concealment of a material fact; (2) were disloyal to the Queen; (3) had assisted the enemy in time of war; (4) in the past five years, had been sentenced to at least twelve months imprisonment in any country.
5.
fn55 UN General Assembly, Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 30 August 1961, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 989, p. 175, <http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b39620.html> accessed 20 October 2013.
6.
fn66 British Nationality Act 1981, s 40A. The right to appeal was introduced as a result of UK’s intention to ratify the European Convention on Nationality, adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe.
7.
fn77British Nationality Act 1981, s 40(a)2. SIAC was initially set up to hear cases of deportation in which the decision is based on sensitive information that cannot be reviewed by the ordinary courts, nor fully disclosed to the parties. D. Bonner and R. Cholewinski, ‘The Response of the United Kingdom’s Legal and Constitutional Orders to the 1991 Gulf War and the Post -9/11 ‘War’ on Terrorism’, in E. Guild and A. Baldaccini (eds.) Terrorism and the Foreigner (Leiden: Brill 2007) 123-175.
8.
fn88 Section 40 A(6) British Nationality Act 1981.
9.
fn99 Schedule 2 to the Asylum and Immigration Act 2004.
10.
fn1010 G1 v SSHD [2010] EWCA Civ 867; L1 v SSHD, SC/100/2010, date of judgment 3 December 2010. Exclusion orders cannot be made in respect of UK citizens.
11.
fn1111 Directive 2004/38/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States amending Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 and repealing Directives 64/221/EEC, 68/360/EEC, 72/194/EEC, 73/148/EEC, 75/34/EEC, 75/35/EEC, 90/364/EEC, 90/365/EEC and 93/96/EEC, OJ L 158.
12.
fn1212 G1 v SSHD [2012] EWCA Civ 867. In this case, the court decided that the right to an in-country appeal has to be guaranteed by legislation and that the 2004 changes have expressly removed such possibility.
13.
fn1313 Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 [United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland], 2006 Chapter 13, 30 March 2006 (referred to as ‘the 2006 Act’).
14.
fn1414 Mr. McNulty in House of Commons Standing Committee E (pt 1), col 254. The list includes actions such as writing, producing, publishing or distributing material, public speaking, including preaching, running a website, using a position of responsibility such as teacher, community or youth leader to express views which the government considers to foment terrorism or seek to provoke others to terrorist acts, justify or glorify terrorism, foment other serious criminal activity or seek to provoke others to serious criminal acts, foster hatred which may lead to intra-community violence in the UK and advocate violence in furtherance of a particular belief.
15.
fn1515 M. Gibney, ‘A Very Transcendental Power: Denaturalisation and the Liberalisation of Citizenship in the United Kingdom’ (2013) 61 Political Studies 637.
16.
fn1616 Abu Hamza al-Masri v SSHD, SIAC, SC/23/2003, date of judgment 5th November 2010, para. 5. See also, UN General Assembly, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 28 September 1954, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 360, p. 117, <http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b3840.html> accessed 20 October 2013.
17.
fn1717 Abu Hamza al-Masri v SSHD, para.5.
19.
fn1919 Abu Hamza al-Masri v SSHD, para. 6.
20.
fn2020 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Expert Meeting - The Concept of Stateless Persons under International Law (‘Prato Conclusions’), May 2010, available at: <http://www.refworld.org/docid/4ca1ae002.html> accessed 20 October 2013; UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Guidelines on Statelessness No. 1: The definition of ‘Stateless Person’ in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 20 February 2012, HCR/GS/12/01, available at: <http://www.refworld.org/docid/4f4371b82.htm> accessed 20 October 2013.
21.
fn2121 UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 1: The definition of ‘Stateless Person’ in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, paras. 16-17.
22.
fn2222 B2 v SSHD, SC/114/2012, date of judgment 29th June 2012.
23.
fn2323 Ibid, paras. 18-19.
24.
fn2424 Prato Conclusions (n 20) para. 8.
25.
fn2525 B2 v SSHD [2013] EWCA Civ 616, para. 92.
26.
fn2626 Al-Jedda v SSHD [2010] EWCA Civ 358, paras. 124-131.
Citizenship Deprivation in the United Kingdom
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