2
K2 v. THE UNITED KINGDOM DECISION
A. The circumstances of the case
1. The factual background
3. The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be
summarised as follows.
4. The applicant was born in Sudan. He arrived in the United Kingdom
as a child and was granted indefinite leave to remain as the minor dependent
of a refugee, namely his father. In 2000 he became a naturalised British
citizen.
5. In 2009 the applicant was arrested and charged with a public order
offence arising out of his participation in protests against Israeli military
action in Gaza. He was released on bail but in October 2009, before he was
required to surrender to his bail, he left the United Kingdom. He contends
that he went directly to Sudan; however, according to the Secretary of State
for the Home Department’s open statement before the Special Immigration
Appeal Tribunal (“SIAC”), the Security Service assessment was that he first
travelled with two extremist associates to Somalia, where he engaged in
terrorism-related activities linked to Al-Shabaab, a jihadist terrorist group
based in East Africa, before travelling on to Sudan in April or May 2010
(see paragraph 22 below).
6. By letter dated 11 June 2010 the Secretary of State notified the
applicant of her intention to make an order pursuant to section 40(2) of the
British Nationality Act 1981 (“the 1981 Act”) depriving him of his British
citizenship on the ground that to do so would be conducive to the public
good. On 14 June 2010 the Secretary of State signed the order.
7. Also by letter of 14 June 2010 the Secretary of State notified the
applicant of her decision to exercise the Crown’s common law prerogative
power to exclude him from the United Kingdom on the ground that he was
“involved in terrorism-related activities” and had “links to a number of
Islamic extremists”.
8. The applicant sought to challenge the decision to exclude him from
the United Kingdom by way of judicial review. He also appealed against the
decision to deprive him of his citizenship. As the Secretary of State had
certified that this decision was taken wholly or partly in reliance on
information which in her opinion should not be made public in the interests
of national security, the applicant’s right of appeal lay to SIAC. However,
the SIAC appeal was stayed while the judicial review proceedings were
pursued.
2. The judicial review proceedings
(a) The High Court
9. The applicant made three submissions before the High Court. First, he
argued that the statutory scheme impliedly precluded the exercise of