Commentary on Sections
Section 47: Review of certain naturalisation decisions by Special Immigration Appeals Commission
242.This section provides for decisions to refuse to issue a certificate of naturalisation as a British Overseas Territories Citizen (BOTC), to be certified so that any challenge to that decision is by way of an appeal to the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
243.Section 47 therefore amends section 2D of the Special Immigration Appeals Commission Act 1997 (jurisdiction: review of certain naturalisation and citizenship decisions), by adding at subsection (1)(a)(i) of section 2D of that Act, the relevant section of the British Nationality Act 1981 (BNA 1981) relating to applications to naturalise as a BOTC, to the existing list of citizenship decisions that may be certified.
244.The Justice & Security Act 2013 (JSA 2013) introduced the ability for the Secretary of State to certify decisions in certain types of application for British citizenship, so that any challenge to a decision to refuse a certificate of naturalisation or to refuse to grant an application to register as a British citizen, may be heard by SIAC. The effect of such certification is to confirm that the Secretary of State took the decision either wholly or partly in reliance on information which, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, should not be publicly disclosed on the grounds of national security, in the interests of the relationship between the United Kingdom and another country, or because it is otherwise not in the public interest to disclose the material.
245.The JSA 2013 created the ability for an applicant to whom such a decision relates, to apply to SIAC to have the decision set aside, with SIAC to apply “the principles which would be applied in judicial review proceedings”, when determining whether the decision should be set aside. The Act also gave SIAC the ability in such proceedings, to make the same order or relief provisions as may be made or given in judicial review proceedings.
246.The JSA 2013 introduced this certification power with regards to applications to naturalise as a British citizen under section 6 of the BNA 1981 and with regards to applications to register as a British citizen of the kind mentioned in section 41A of that Act (which includes applications to register an adult or young person as a British citizen or as a BOTC), but it did not make similar provision for applications to naturalise as a BOTC.
247.Section 47 seeks to address this gap by adding decisions with regard to applications to naturalise as a BOTC under section 18 of the BNA 1981, to the existing list of citizenship application types that may be certified by the Secretary of State.
