Remi William Akinyemi, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department

Facts

The claimant was born in the United Kingdom on 21 June 1983. Because jus soli had ended on the commencement of the British Nationality Act 1981, he did not become a British citizen at birth, and he remains a Nigerian national. After his parents were granted indefinite leave to remain in October 1987, he was entitled to be registered under section 1(3) of the British Nationality Act 1981, and from the age of ten under section 1(4) of the British Nationality Act 1981. His parents made no application, and he says they assumed he was already British. From 4 December 2006, section 58 of the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006 made good character a requirement for registration; that requirement is now in section 41A of the British Nationality Act 1981. The claimant has 24 convictions for some forty offences, including causing death by dangerous driving in 2007, for which he received four years' imprisonment, and supplying Class A drugs. He has not offended since August 2018. A deportation order was successfully challenged on Article 8 grounds and was revoked in December 2021. In March 2023 he applied for registration under section 1(4), or alternatively under section 4L(1)(c) of the British Nationality Act 1981. The Secretary of State refused on 4 December 2023 and again, on reconsideration, on 17 October 2024. The claimant sought judicial review of the reconsideration decision and of the good character guidance. He also argued that section 41A of the British Nationality Act 1981 or section 4L of the British Nationality Act 1981 was incompatible with the Human Rights Act 1998. Morris J granted permission on all grounds, and a further ground (Ground 4B) was added by amendment at the hearing.