Minister open to allowing appeal process in revoking citizenship
While the bill ends the possibility of taking citizenship from dual nationals involved in terrorism, it still allows for revoking the citizenship of people who make false applications, or for reasons of criminality or human rights abuses.
The minister told the committee Wednesday that people can seek judicial leave to appeal a revocation, but senators and immigration lawyers alike argued that this isn’t really a fair option.
Independent Sen. Ratna Omidvar said leave is rarely granted for such an appeal. “So leave is not really an option as far as I’m concerned.”
She asked why there was no provision for a right of appeal to an independent body.
“We believe that the current process is constitutionally sound,” Hussen said. “However, we are very much open to examining any proposals that add to procedural fairness with respect to citizenship revocation.
“We’ve always said that we are open to those proposals. We will examine them closely. We will work closely with the senators on that.”