to the Council of Ministers, according to article 20 of the Law. If the Council of Ministers approves the reasoning, the letter is passed to the UAE President according to article 114 of the Emirati Constitution.27 This same article states that if the president approves the letter, the decree – regarding in this case the “denaturalisation” or “withdrawal of citizenship” – must be published in the Official Gazette. Regarding the right to appeal the decision, article 21 on the Law of Nationality further provides that “those who are affected with the decisions of the Minister of Interior may appeal to the Council of Minister within one month of the date on which they have been informed of the decision”. The Council of Ministers’ resolution regarding the appeal is final. Nonetheless, there is no indication of the possibility of judicial appeal or the criteria upon which the Council of Ministers will decide whether to annule the decision. UN experts have expressed concerns over the Law on Nationality, particularly article 16 which sets out that a naturalised person may have their nationality revoked if that person “commits or attempts to commit an action that is deemed dangerous to the safety and security of the country”. The experts stated that: [They] are deeply concerned that this article, despite its potentially far-reaching human rights implications, could once again be employed in a punitive and possibly arbitrary manner against individuals who express legitimate criticism of the Government or its policies, rather than solely against persons who pose a current, direct, and concrete security or terrorism-related threat. Furthermore, the article appears to provide no indication of how an affected person could effectively challenge any decision, or what bodies are in place to evaluate or review cases in an independent manner. All these considerations raise serious concerns in regard to the possibility of both an arbitrary application of this article and instances of arbitrary deprivations of citizenship, which would be contrary to [the] Excellency’s Government’s obligations under the UDHR. […] Furthermore, article 16 of the Nationality Law also states that if nationality is withdrawn from a person, it may accordingly be withdrawn from his wife and underaged children. This suggests that individuals may have their nationality revoked even if they have not conducted themselves in a manner deemed to be prejudicial to the vital interests of the state. In addition to our concerns about the breadth of activities that may be deemed “prejudicial to the vital interests of the state”, the concept of punishing those who have not even been deemed to have committed a crime is deeply troubling, and by effect would be inherently arbitrary.28 Article 16 therefore violates the lex certa principle due to its vague wording, posing significant concerns regarding the principle of legality. Moreover, being born in the UAE does not in itself entitle an individual to citizenship. As the UAE confers nationality by patrilineal descent, children born on the territory are presumed to take the nationality of their father – regardless of whether he is a foreigner A copy of this law can be found on the following link: https://menarights.org/sites/default/files/201611/UAE_Constitution_2004_EN.pdf (accessed on 1 May 2024). 28 Communication from UN Special Procedures, OL ARE 6/2020, 13 November 2020, p.17, https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=25663, (accessed on 29 April 2024). 27 10 Citizenship stripping in the UAE