Supreme Court President Lord Robert Reed said the UK Court of Appeal made four mistakes last year when it ruled that Begum should be allowed to return to the UK to pursue his appeal.
Begum was 15 when in 2015 she left the UK with two friends from school to join ISIS in Syria. She was stripped of her British citizenship by then Interior Secretary Sajid Javid on February 19, 2019, when she was discovered in a refugee camp in northern Syria.
According to Reed, the Court of Appeal erred in deciding that Begum’s right to a fair hearing should take precedence over other competing rights.
“The right to a fair hearing does not outweigh all other considerations, such as public safety,” said Reed.
The UK Court of Appeal ruled last year that Begum should be allowed to enter the UK for his appeal because otherwise it would not be “a fair and effective hearing”.
Reed added that the Court of Appeal did not give the Interior Minister’s assessment of the requirements to enter the UK “the respect it deserved”, adding that the court did its “own assessment of the requirements” despite the “lack of relevant evidence” .
The Supreme Court also ruled that Begum’s appeal against revoking her citizenship in the UK should be “postponed” until she can participate without “public security being compromised”.
At his trial, Reed said Begum is currently being held in a camp in Syria. This “is not a perfect solution, as it is not known how long it can take before it is possible,” he said.
“There is no perfect solution to a dilemma of the current type,” added Reed.
The decision to revoke Begum’s citizenship has been criticized by human rights activists and legal experts, who argue that the revocation has made her stateless and has compromised her right to a fair appeal.