Citizenship deprivation
The 21st Century has seen an unparalleled rise in the number of individuals who have had their British citizenship revoked by the Secretary of State.
British citizenship is viewed as a privilege as opposed to a right. Therefore, for individuals who make the decision to naturalise as a British citizen, it is important to note that this acquisition is not fixed and that in a number of scenarios, based upon their conduct, their citizenship could be stripped. This is also true for those born in the UK; who acquire citizenship by descent; and by registration in limited circumstances.
Denationalisation is a power conferred solely to the Secretary of State whereby they can make the unilateral decision to revoke an individual of their British citizenship. This power is granted to the Home Secretary in Section 40 of the British Nationality Act 1981. Revocation is permissible in the following scenarios:
- Conducive to the public good
- If British citizenship was acquired by means of fraud
- If British citizenship was acquired by means of false representation
- If British citizenship was acquired by means of concealment of material fact
The organisation Free Movement, estimate that since 2012, there have been a total of 1,007 individuals who have been deprived of their British nationality, including 273 cases made in 2017 on grounds of deception alone (a combination of reasons 2-4 above). Between 1973 and 2006, they state that there are no such reported cases.
Conducive to the public good
“Conducive to the public good” provides the Home Secretary with the broadest basis in which to denationalise an individual.
“Conducive to the public good” is not defined in the Act nor any subsequent Acts, nor has it acquired a fixed definition confirmed by the Courts.
However, over the years, through case law and parliamentary statements, this power has been used in instances where individuals have participated in acts which involve:
- National security concerns
- including espionage and acts of terrorism directed at the UK or an allied power;
- Unacceptable behaviour of the kind mentioned in the then Home Secretary’s statement of 24 August 2005 (‘glorification’ of terrorism etc), for instance:
- Those seeking or who sought to provoke terrorist acts
- Foment, justify, or glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs
- Fostered hatred which might lead to inter-community violence in the UK
- war crimes; and
- serious and organised crime
On the 3rd March 2022, the Home Office released their Transparency Report: Disruptive powers 2020. This report produced the latest official statistics on the number of people who have had their British citizenship revoked in 2019 and 2020 on the basis that it was conducive to the public good. There were 27 people denationalised in 2019, and 10 in 2020.
There have been no figures published for 2021 regarding public good decisions.
It is important to note that individuals do not have to be convicted of a crime to become denationalised.
Statelessness
Section 66 of the Immigration Act 2014 introduced the ability of the Secretary of State to strip nationals of their British nationality, in instances where naturalised citizens have acted in a manner which is deemed to be “seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the UK”, the Secretary of State may deprive that person of their British citizenship, even if doing so would leave them stateless.
The UN Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons 1954 define statelessness as someone “who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law”.
This action may only be taken if the Secretary of State has reasonable grounds for believing that the person is able to acquire citizenship under the laws of another country, but who at the moment of denationalisation may only be considered to have British nationality. As seen in the case of ISIS bride Shamima Begum.
Notification
At present, the Secretary of State must notify individuals of her intent to revoke British nationality. This was confirmed in the recent Court of Appeal case of R (D4) (Notice of Deprivation of Citizenship) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2022] EWCA Civ 33.
However, if the Nationality and Borders Bill which is currently being reviewed in Parliament is passed, this could change. This is because contained within the bill is a provision that would allow the Secretary of State to not provide notice in situations where it would not be reasonable to do so in the interests of national security, diplomatic relations or otherwise in the public interest.