Citizenship as a Privilege and the Weakness of International Law: The Consequences for Citizenship Deprivation in Bahrain and the UK

Abstract

Citizenship serves different interests. It provides security and empowerment for the citizen. For the state, control of citizenship is an attribute of sovereignty which may treat citizenship as a privilege at its behest rather than an individual right claimed in defiance of its interests. This tension is situated within a tripartite relationship also involving international law. However, international law’s insistence on a human right to citizenship is weak and affects the procedural, rather than the substantive, aspects of deprivation. The tension between sovereignty, human rights, and international law will be examined through the lens of citizenship deprivation within counterterrorism. The article will focus on laws and practices in Bahrain and the UK, both states at the forefront of reliance on citizenship deprivation for security purposes. As a result of the weakness of international law, the divergent polities of Bahrain and the UK are both enabled to promote citizenship deprivation.

Climate Change and the Future of Citizenship. Three Essays

“…Except for the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality as part of human rights law, 81 and the adoption of two conventions on defining and reducing statelessness, 82 citizenship essentially remains within the sovereign domain of states and international law's leverage remains weak. 83 At the same time, citizenship and mobility -two areas of varied state practice -are related in complex ways and in a range of scenarios. Citizenship determines one's access to mobility (with different passports carrying varying weight).…”