Deprivation of British citizenship and withdrawal of passports 1.2 Providing written notice Before making a deprivation of citizenship order, the Home Secretary must usually give the person written notice of the decision, the reasons for it and their right of appeal. 13 Section 10 of the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 allows written notice to be dispensed with in certain circumstances. Notice is not required if the Home Secretary: • does not have the information needed to be able to give notice, or • reasonably considers it necessary to withhold notice in the interests of national security, the investigation or prosecution of serious crime, preventing or reducing risk to a person’s safety, or one of the UK’s diplomatic relationships.14 This provision of the 2022 act was controversial. 15 It was introduced as a government amendment (clause 9) at Commons committee stage and was a significant focus of debate at Commons report stage and in the Lords. 16 Home Office minister Baroness Williams of Trafford argued that the UK could be exposed to national security risk if it were not possible to deprive a person involved in terrorism or espionage of their citizenship due to an inability to communicate the decision to them. She wrote to members of the Lords giving several examples of when deprivation without notice might be appropriate. 17 The government ultimately accepted amendments tabled by Lord Anderson of Ipswich KC that introduced safeguards on deprivation without notice. 18 These include judicial oversight: the Home Secretary must apply to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission within seven days of making a deprivation order without notice. The Commission will check whether the decision not to give notice was “obviously flawed”. If so, the Home Secretary must either give notice, withdraw the deprivation order, or apply for the judges to reconsider their decision (if there is new evidence).19 The procedure for giving notice is specified in regulations. Notice can be delivered by a variety of methods, including post, email or fax. 20 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 8 British Nationality Act 1981, section 40(5) Nationality and Borders Act 2022, section 10(2) E-petition 601583, Remove Clause 9 from the Nationality and Borders Bill, closed on 29 May 2022 HC Deb 7 December 2021 cc216-351; HL Deb 5 January 2022 cc572-671 Home Office, Letter from Baroness Williams to Peers regarding issues raised during the second reading (PDF), 25 January 2022 HC Deb 22 March 2022 c183 Nationality and Borders Act 2022, schedule 4A British Nationality (General) Regulations 2003, SI 2003/548, regulation 10 (as amended) Commons Library Research Briefing, 18 December 2024