Illegitimate Principles of Exclusion? : The Debate on Denationalization as an Instrument for Counter-terrorism in the United Kingdom.

Sammanfattning: The issue of citizenship deprivation has become an increasingly relevant topic in the struggle against terrorism. It is related to different conceptions of citizenship as well as the question of what is at stake in the process of depriving individuals of it. In the United Kingdom three acts have been passed in the 21st century so far that has reduced the requirements needed for the to deprive individuals of their citizenship and also to render individuals stateless. This thesis systematises the arguments made in the academic and political debates related to these acts and evaluates their legitimacy in relation to different normative standpoints. The main conclusion regards a logical inconsistency in the differentiation of two types of British citizenship, one where individuals have naturalised, the other where they are native born Britons, the latter may not under British law be rendered stateless while the former can be, although both have the status of citizen, which becomes problematic in terms of equality before the law and equal rights.