SAHNI ARTICLE 3.3.21 (WORD) (DO NOT DELETE)
128
Gonzaga Journal of International Law
5/6/2021 7:21 PM
Vol. 24:2
Manjit Kaur was born in Kenya in 1949.150 She was of Indian descent
and qualified as a jus soli Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies
(‘CUKC’) through the British Nationality Act, 1948.151 The CUKC category
offered members unrestricted entry to the UK.152 The British Nationality Act
1981 replaced the CUKC rank with the lesser BOC rung. 153 As a BOC, Kaur
was not considered a British citizen and lacked the rights to enter the UK
freely and live there permanently.154 She was permitted to enter the country
on a temporary visa basis.155 The Home Office rejected her applications to
extend her stay.156 Ms. Kaur claimed that the British Nationality Act 1981
discriminated against Britons of Asian origin.157 She could not exercise her
fundamental right to reside in the UK because she was not automatically
entitled to become a British national as a BOC.158 Not only did she lack
mobility rights in the UK as a non-British national, but she was denied as well
of the rights to enter and work in the European Union (EU).159 Britain was a
Member State of the EU. Its nationals were also EU citizens under Articles 8
and 8(1)(a) of the E.C. Treaty (now, after amendment, Articles 17 EC and 18
EC):
Article 8160
1. Citizenship of the Union is hereby established.
Every person holding the nationality of a Member State shall be a citizen of
the Union.
Article 8a161
1. Every citizen of the Union shall have the right to move and reside freely
within the territory of the Member States.
150.
151.
Id. ¶ 11.
British Nationality Act 1948, 11 & 12 Geo. 6 c. 56, § 4. (Stating, “[s]ubject to the
provisions of this section, every person born within the United Kingdom and the Colonies after
the commencement of this Act shall be a citizen of the United Kingdom and the Colonies by
birth.”). See also Case C-192/99, The Queen v. Sec’y of State for the Home Dep’t ex parte
Kaur, 2001 ECR I-1237, at ¶ 8.
152.
East African Asians v. the United Kingdom, App. Nos. 4403/70-4419/70, 4422/70,
442J/70, 44]4/70, 4443/70, 4476/70-4478/70,4486/70, 4501/70 and 4526/70-4530/70 (joined)
Eur. H.R. Rep. 2, 11 (1973).
153.
Case C-192/99, The Queen v. Sec’y of State for the Home Dep’t ex parte Kaur, 2001
ECR I-1237, ¶ 10(c).
154.
Id. ¶ 11.
155.
Id. ¶ 12.
156.
Id. ¶¶ 12-14.
157.
Id. ¶ 17.
158.
Id. ¶ 10(c).
159.
Id. ¶ 14.
160.
Treaty on European Union, Feb. 7, 1992, 1992 O.J. (C 191) 7.
161.
Id. at art. 8(a).