Review of the terrorism-related citizenship loss provisions in the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cth)
The submission to the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor’s (INSLM) review into the operation, effectiveness and implications of the amendments introduced to the Australian Citizenship Act 2017 (Cth) (the Act) by the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Act 2015 (Cth) (Allegiance to Australia Act) was prepared by the Law Council.
The Law Council previously provided submissions to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) when the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Allegiance to Australia) Bill 2015 (Allegiance to Australia Bill) was referred to the PJCIS for inquiry and report. While a number of recommendations made by the Law Council were accepted and incorporated in the subsequent amendments made to the Act, some were not, including:
- that there be greater provision for procedural fairness in the scheme; and
- that the judiciary have a greater role in the decision-making process leading to the potential loss of citizenship.
The Law Council maintains its previous position that citizenship revocation provisions in relation to terrorism cases are neither necessary nor proportionate. The provisions relating to revocation of citizenship should not occur automatically. The recent case concerning Neil Prakash clearly illustrates that the current legislative regime creates uncertainty and a high risk that a person may be left stateless. This is not consistent with Australia’s international obligations and is an undesirable consequence of the existing legislation.
You can read the full submission below.
Last Updated on 20/12/2019
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