Law digests: 10 March 2023

Citizenship

Begum v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2023] Lexis Citation 393, [2023] All ER (D) 70 (Feb)

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission dismissed the appellant’s appeal under s 2B of the Special Immigration Appeals Act 1997 against the respondent, the Secretary of State. The appellant’s appeal was about fundamental principles, rights and obligations. She alleged, among other things, that (i) the respondent’s decision to deprive her of her British citizenship was in breach of the UK’s obligation under s 6 of the Human Rights Act 1998 with reference to Art 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), because there was at the very least a credible suspicion that she had been trafficked; (ii) the deprivation decision rendered her de facto stateless; and (iii) the deprivation decision was procedurally unfair, irrational and disproportionate under common law and Art 8 of the ECHR. The court held, among other things, that it was unable to accept that there had been a relevant breach of the investigative duty by the respondent