Earlier this month the Court of Appeal ruled that Shamima Begum should be allowed to return to the UK in order to have a fair and effective appeal against being stripped of her British citizenship.  On Friday 31 July the Court of Appeal allowed the Home Office permission to appeal that ruling to the Supreme Court.  The Court of Appeal also allowed Ms Begum’s lawyers permission to appeal the decision that the absence of a fair and effective appeal did not mean her citizenship should be restored. 

The Supreme Court will therefore be ruling on essential issues of appeal rights and deprivation of nationality.   The consequences of this ruling will be an indication of where the UK stands on the fundamental principle in law of allowing individuals the right to appeal in person, an interesting issue in these times of global shutdown and the move to video conferencing in almost all spheres of life.   The issue of deprivation is also one of huge significance, again in a wider global context where the Black Lives Matter movement continues to challenge institutional and endemic racism in society.   Ultimately, the decisions made in the Shamima Begum case should be very closely watched indeed.