New law cements Britain’s two-tier citizenship system

London - Passed through Parliament on the 21st of October, the Deprivation of Citizenship Orders (Effect During Appeal) Act and received royal assent this week, marks a further erosion of due process in Britain’s citizenship regime.

By allowing the Home Office to keep deprivation orders in force, even if it loses an appeal, the government has created a system where punishment continues even when its legality is in question. Those affected are left in prolonged exile, often for years, while the courts decide whether the state acted lawfully.

Each time the Home Office is challenged in court, the government responds not by correcting its conduct, but by rewriting the law. This pattern of legislating around judicial defeats has turned citizenship deprivation into a moving target, where accountability is endlessly deferred and the rules are changed to preserve executive power. 

This law enables the Home Office to benefit from its own wrongdoing. It cements a practice that places individuals outside the protection of the law, denying them the basic presumption of innocence. Citizenship deprivation remains an executive decision, made on secret evidence and untested allegations, and shielded from meaningful scrutiny by a judicial process designed to fail.

The legislation follows years of cases in which British citizens, often of Muslim heritage, have been stripped of their nationality and left stranded abroad. These cases have shown how deprivation powers are applied selectively, creating a two-tier system in which one’s rights depend on ancestry and political convenience.

Anas Mustapha, Head of Public Advocacy at CAGE, said:
“This Bill exposes the extent to which Britain’s citizenship regime has departed from due process. It allows politicians to continue punishing people while their actions are under appeal, treating judicial oversight as an obstacle rather than a safeguard. For the Home Office, unlawfulness is no longer a barrier - it is now part of the process. This is how injustice becomes policy.” 

Image courtesy George Olcott on flickr