UK Supreme Court Hears Child Deserves Citizenship Despite Parent's Unlawful Deprivation

London - The Supreme Court has this week heard the case of two individuals. N3 unlawfully stripped of their British citizenship, and ZA, denied her birthright to British citizenship.

Both have been treated as second-class citizens by the UK government. The courts will decide whether withdrawing a citizenship deprivation order due to statelessness automatically restores the individual's British citizenship, or if the original deprivation or denial still holds, leaving the person stateless for the duration. The Supreme Court is the final opportunity to ensure the judiciary can effectively counterbalance the excesses of the executive in citizenship deprivation cases.

N3, a veteran aid worker, was unlawfully stripped of his UK citizenship from 2017 to 2020. After legal battles, the Home Secretary, Priti Patel, reversed the decision after it was determined he was made stateless. ZA, was stranded in Bangladesh as a two year old child, after losing her legal challenge to be recognized as a British citizen. Her father, E3, had been deprived of his citizenship in 2017 while in Bangladesh. Although the Home Office later conceded that E3 had been left stateless and withdrew the deprivation order, ZA was unable to inherit British citizenship because she was born during the period her father had been deprived of it.

In both the cases of N3 and ZA, the courts have consistently upheld the unlawful actions of the Home Office, solidifying a discriminatory two-tier citizenship system of denial and deprivation.

Anas Mustapha, Head of Public Advocacy at CAGE International said:

These cases highlight that the citizenship deprivation regime is completely unaccountable, with the Secretary of State empowered to act with impunity and face little to no consequence - even from the judiciary. 

This hearing is the final opportunity to ensure that the judiciary can serve as a proper check on the government's power in cases of citizenship deprivation or if the deference shown to an increasingly authoritarian executive will continue.

Image from Kaysgeog on Flickr