LCA warns against powers to render Australians stateless

30/01/2019

Law reform and public affairs

The Law Council today warned the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security that proposed citizenship-stripping laws would create the potential for the home affairs minister to render Australians stateless, and may be inconsistent with Australia's international legal obligations.

Law Council President Arthur Moses SC said "The proposed changes create a real risk that a person could have their citizenship removed while possessing no other citizenship, thus rendering them stateless ... As the recent history demonstrates, in both the case of members of Parliament and the Prakash case, determining existing foreign citizenship can be extremely difficult. Determinations based on predictions about future foreign citizenship, which may include decisions by foreign governments, are obviously fraught."

Read the media release here.