Increasing the Powers of the Secretary of State for the Home Department to Strip Individuals of their British Citizenship: R (on the application of Begum) v SSHD

Abstract

In R (on the application of Begum) v Secretary of State for the Home Department, Ms Shamima Begum was deprived of her British citizenship by the Secretary of State for the Home Department, as she had chosen to flee to Syria, and aligned herself with Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. To safeguard the UK's national security, the Supreme Court held that Ms Begum could not return to the UK to challenge the legality of the decision to deprive her of her citizenship. Accordingly, this matter was recently heard in the Special Immigration Appeals Commission whilst Ms Begum remained outside the UK. This piece argues that, as a result of this decision, the equilibrium of power has further shifted in favour of the executive/Secretary of State for the Home Department. This has the effect of attenuating the powers of the appellate bodies to hear cases regarding deprivation of citizenship matters.