Ms Begum was born and brought up in the UK, and was a British citizen at birth. When she was 15 years old, she travelled to Syria with two friends. Shortly after she arrived, she married an ISIL fighter. Ms Begum has remained in Syria since 2015 and has aligned with ISIL. She is currently detained in the Al-Roj camp run by the Syrian Democratic Forces, where conditions are poor. Ms Begum now wishes to return to the UK.
On 19 February 2019, the Secretary of State for the Home Department decided to deprive Ms Begum of her British citizenship, on the basis that Ms Begum's return would present a risk to national security. Ms Begum sought leave to enter the UK so that she could pursue an appeal against this decision, but her application for leave to enter was refused. Ms Begum challenges both the decision to deprive her of citizenship and the decision to refuse her leave to enter the UK.
The Special Immigration Appeals Commission found that, while Ms Begum remains detained by the Syrian Democratic Forces in a camp, she cannot give effective instructions or take any meaningful part in her appeal. This means that her appeal cannot be fair and effective. The Court of Appeal therefore held that Ms Begum should be granted leave to enter the UK so that she could pursue her appeal. The Secretary of State appeals to the Supreme Court.

This appeal concerns a collision at sea between the appellant’s vessel ("EVER SMART") and the respondent’s vessel ("ALEXANDRA 1"). The collision took place on 11 February 2015 just outside the dredged channel by which vessels enter and exit the port of Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates. ALEXANDRA 1 was inbound; EVER SMART was outward bound. The damage suffered by ALEXANDRA 1 amounted to over US$9.3 million and the damage suffered by EVER SMART amounted to over US$2.5 million.
The Admiralty Court determined that the appellant’s vessel, EVER SMART, should bear 80% of the liability for the collision and the respondent’s vessel, ALEXANDRA 1, should bear 20%. The judge held that the crossing rules (Rules 15-17 of the Collision Regulations) did not apply and therefore that ALEXANDRA 1 did not navigate in breach of Rule 16, the crossing rule which was said by the appellant to have applied to the ALEXANDRA 1. The Court of Appeal dismissed the Appellant’s appeal. The Appellant now appeals to the Supreme Court.