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This judgment was promulgated on 21 Dec 2017.

The case concerned appellants who had made false representations in their applications for UK citizenship. The Court considered whether the misrepresentations made the subsequent grant of citizenship to them a nullity rather than rendering them liable to be deprived of that citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1981, ss 40 and 40A.

The Supreme Court unanimously allowed the appeal by consent. The Court considered the original decision of R v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex p Mahmood [1981] QB 58 which adopted the nullity approach, rather than a deprivation of citizenship, which involved the purported grant of British citizenship to someone who was impersonating another real person. The Court then agreed with the Secretary of State for the Home Department’s submission that the nullity approach should only apply in impersonation cases. As such it held that the appellants are liable to be deprived of citizenship under the British Nationality Act 1981, ss 40 and 40A.

For judgment, please download: [2017] UKSC 82
For Court’s Press Summary, please download: Court’s Press Summary
For a non-PDF version of the judgment, please visit: BAILII