Shamima Begum loses Court of Appeal challenge over British citizenship

“Notifying a person abroad of an intention to remove their citizenship could enable that person to make a preemptive return to the United Kingdom and frustrate the purpose of the deprivation decision,” said Lady Carr.

She said SIAC was wrong, in its judgement, to say that Begum should have been allowed to make representations but, notwithstanding that, she noted: “It was inevitable that the Secretary of State would have made the same decision regardless of possible representations.”

Breach of equality law

Ms Begum’s lawyers argued that depriving her of her citizenship also breached equality laws in that such revocation powers had been “disproportionately applied to British Muslims”.

The Court of Appeal ruled, however, that there was a specific exemption under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 allowing ministers to take action to “safeguard national security”.

“As such, the national security or deprivation decision was exempt from the duties that arose under Section 149,” said Lady Carr.

Summing up the judgement, she said: “In conclusion, for these reasons, we unanimously dismissed the appeal.”

What next?

Ms Begum’s lawyers have said they will “keep fighting” after she lost the challenge over the removal of her British citizenship at the Court of Appeal.

Solicitor Daniel Furner said: “I think the only thing we can really say for certainty is that we are going to keep fighting.

“I want to say that I’m sorry to Shamima and to her family that after five years of fighting she still hasn’t received justice in a British court and to promise her and promise the government that we are not going to stop fighting until she does get justice and until she is safely back home.”

Her lawyers must now seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, and ultimately, if they fail there, could seek to take it to the ECHR.