U3 (AP) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for the Home Department (Respondent)
Case ID: UKSC 2023/0145
Case summary
Issues
What are the functions of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission ("SIAC") when it hears an appeal against the Home Secretary's decisions to deprive a person of their British citizenship and/or to refuse a person entry clearance on national security grounds?
Can SIAC engage in a full merits-based review of the Home Secretary's decisions or is it confined to a more limited review of the decision on public law grounds?
To what extent can SIAC interfere with the Home Secretary's assessment of the risk to national security posed by the affected person?
Facts
This is an appeal against the Home Secretary's decisions to deprive the appellant, U3, of her British citizenship and to refuse her application for entry clearance to return to the UK to reunite with her children.
U3 was born in the UK in 1992 and had British and Moroccan nationality. When she was 18, she married her husband, O. She had two children, U3A and U3B, born in 2012 and 2013. During their marriage, O subjected U3 to serious and sustained violence. On 24 June 2014, U3 travelled from the UK to Turkey with her children. O joined her there. On 22 August 2014, U3 and O travelled with their children from Turkey to a part of Syria then controlled by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ("ISIL"). They remained there until November 2017. In 2016, while still in Syria, U3 had another child, U3C. All three of U3's children are British citizens.
On 18 April 2017, the Home Secretary sent a letter to U3's last-known address indicating that she had decided to make an order depriving U3 of her British citizenship under section 40(2) of the British Nationality Act 1981. This was because, "it is assessed that you are a British Moroccan dual national who has travelled to Syria and is aligned with ISIL. It is assessed that your return to the United Kingdom would present a risk to the national security of the United Kingdom". The order depriving U3 of her British citizenship was made on 22 April 2017.
In 2019, U3's children were repatriated to the UK. On 10 August 2020, U3 applied for entry clearance to return to the UK, relying on her own and her children's rights under article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. On 18 December 2020, the Home Secretary refused U3's application.
Both SIAC the Court of Appeal dismissed U3's appeals against the Home Secretary's decisions to deprive U3 of her British citizenship and to refuse her entry clearance. U3 now appeals to the Supreme Court.
Judgment appealed
Parties
Appellant(s)
U3
Respondent(s)
Secretary of State for the Home Department
Appeal
Justices
Lord Reed, Lord Hodge, Lord Lloyd-Jones, Lord Sales, Lord Stephens
Hearing start date
20 November 2024
Hearing finish date
21 November 2024