Previous UPR of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 5. The UK was previously reviewed during the First, Second and the Third Cycle of the UPR. In the Third UPR Cycle on 4 May 2017, the UK received a recommendation by Hungary to “categorise statelessness as a protection status and provide stateless persons expedited and affordable access to British nationality”,1 which the UK noted. This has not yet been implemented. The UK also received a recommendation from Kenya to “implement the 1954 Convention on Statelessness to ensure that stateless persons in Britain access British nationality”,2 and a recommendation from Iran to “exert all its efforts, in law and practice, to combat racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia, and to eliminate all forms of discrimination against migrants, and to avoid subjecting asylum seekers and stateless persons to prolonged and/or repeat unlawful detention”.3 The UK noted both recommendations,4 and these have only been partially implemented. 6. Several UN Treaty Bodies have also issued recommendations to the UK in relation to statelessness or nationality issues. In 2015, the Human Rights Committee stated the UK should review its laws to ensure that restrictions on re-entry and denial of citizenship on terrorism grounds include appropriate procedural protections and are consistent with the principles of legality, necessity and proportionality. The UK was also recommended to ensure that appropriate standards and procedures are in place to avoid rendering an individual stateless.5 7. In 2019, the Committee Against Torture noted that individuals claiming statelessness status in the UK continue to be subjected to lengthy periods of arbitrary administrative detention, due to the UK’s cumbersome statelessness determination procedure (SDP). Further, it is exceptionally difficult for individuals seeking to access the procedure to obtain legal aid.6 The Committee Against Torture recommended that the UK: a) improve the training provided to officials responsible for making statelessness determinations and carry out regular reviews of their performance; b) strengthen identification and referral mechanisms for stateless persons; and c) facilitate access to legal aid for individuals making statelessness claims and ensure that applicants are able to appeal negative decisions. 7 1 Human Rights Council 36th Session, Universal Periodic Review, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland A/HRC/36/9 14 July 2017, para 134.225 https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G17/192/15/PDF/G1719215.pdf?OpenElement. 2 ibid, para 134.53 3 ibid, para 134.82 4 Human Rights Council 36th Session, Universal Periodic Review, Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Addendum, Views on conclusions and/or recommendations, voluntary commitments A/HRC/36/9/Add.1, 7 September 2017, https://documents-ddsny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G17/261/95/PDF/G1726195.pdf?OpenElement 5 UN Human Rights Committee, Concluding observations on the seventh periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, CCPR/C/GBR/CO/7, 17 August 2015, para. 15: http://undocs.org/CCPR/C/GBR/CO/7 6 Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Concluding observations on the sixth periodic report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland CAT/C/GBR/CO/6 7 June 2019 https://undocs.org/CAT/C/GBR/CO/6 7 ibid 2