R (Pham) v Secretary of State for the Home Department
[2015] UKSC 19
Independent editorial summary — not the official judgment. Read the full judgment via the source link.
Ratio Decidendi
Deprivation of citizenship must not render a person stateless, but the question of statelessness depends on the law of the other country of nationality, and the Secretary of State is entitled to make her own assessment of foreign law.
Facts
Mr Pham, a naturalised British citizen originally from Vietnam, was deprived of his British citizenship on the ground that it was conducive to the public good. He argued this would render him stateless.
Judgment Summary
The Supreme Court held that the assessment of whether deprivation would render a person stateless requires examination of the law of the other state. The Secretary of State's assessment that Mr Pham retained Vietnamese nationality was upheld.
Key Quotes
"The position under the terms of the relevant Vietnamese Nationality Law of 2008 is, I agree, clear: the appellant had Vietnamese nationality as at 22 December 2011. All that happened is that the Vietnamese Government has, when subsequently informed by the British Government of its intention to deport the appellant, declined to accept that he was or is a Vietnamese national."
— Lord Mance at [66](verbatim, verified against the judgment)
Subsequent Treatment
Followed in subsequent statelessness and citizenship deprivation cases.
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