''Chen v Home Secretary'' was a decision of the

European Court of Justice The European Court of Justice (ECJ, french: Cour de Justice européenne), formally just the Court of Justice, is the supreme court of the European Union in matters of European Union law. As a part of the Court of Justice of the European Un ...

which decided that a minor who is a national of a European Union member state has the right to reside in the European Union with his or her third-country national parents, provided the minor and parents have health insurance and will not become a burden on the public finances of the member state of residence. This case led to the

Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland The Twenty-seventh Amendment of the Constitution Act 2004 (previously bill no. 15 of 2004) amended the Constitution of Ireland to limit the constitutional right to Irish citizenship of individuals born on the island of Ireland to the ch ...

, which limited the constitutional right to Irish citizenship of individuals born on the island of Ireland to the children of Irish citizens and some others whose parents are not Irish citizens but who meet the prescribed criteria.

Facts

Kunqian Catherine Zhu was born on 16 September 2000 in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

parents who were living in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

(part of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

) and working for a Chinese firm there. Dimitry Kochenov and Justin Lindeboom (2017
Breaking Chinese Law – Making European One: The Story of Chen, Or: Two Winners, Two Losers, Two Truths
In B Davies and F Nicola (eds) ''EU Law Stories'', Cambridge University Press, 2017, pp. 178–200. The child's mother, Man Lavette Chen, had selected

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

as a birthplace for her daughter so that she could gain

Irish nationality Irish nationality law details the conditions by which a person is a nationality, national of the Republic of Ireland. The primary law governing these regulations is the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act, 1956, which Coming into force, came ...

. As Catherine's parents were only temporary migrants in the UK, she was not eligible for

British citizenship British nationality law prescribes the conditions under which a person is recognised as being a national of the United Kingdom. The six different classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the ...

simply by virtue of birth in the United Kingdom, as the United Kingdom abolished automatic ''

jus soli ''Jus soli'' ( , , ; meaning "right of soil"), commonly referred to as birthright citizenship, is the right of anyone born in the territory of a state to nationality or citizenship. ''Jus soli'' was part of the English common law, in contras ...

'' in 1983. However, by being born in Belfast, Catherine was entitled to Irish citizenship because at that time, anyone born on the

island of Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

had the automatic, unrestricted right to Irish citizenship. Thus, Mrs Chen obtained a passport and hence Irish citizenship for Catherine, with the intention of using Catherine's status as a

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

citizen to move the family permanently to

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

, Wales. However, British authorities rejected the family's application for permits to reside permanently in the United Kingdom. On appeal, adjudicator

Michael Shrimpton Michael Shrimpton (born 9 March 1957) is an English former barrister and judge who is known for his conspiracy theories and hoaxes. He was convicted in 2014 for falsely reporting that Germany was planning a nuclear attack on the 2012 Summer Oly ...

of the

Immigration Appellate Authority The Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) was an independent judicial body in the United Kingdom constituted under the Immigration Act 1971, with jurisdiction to hear appeals from many immigration and asylum decisions. Administered by the Tribun ...

referred the decision to the

, which ruled that, as a citizen of the European Union, Catherine Zhu had a right under Article 18 of the

EC Treaty The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was signe ...

to reside anywhere in the EU, and that denying residency to her parents at a time when she is unable to look after herself would conflict with this basic right. Advocate General Tizzano stated that it was not an abuse of EU rights to take advantage of the Irish citizenship rules because it is for the Member States and not the EU to decide whether to confer citizenship on a person.Opinion of Advocate General Tizzano: Case C-200/02: Chen and Others
/ref>

Judgment

The court ruled:

References

{{reflist European nationality law Irish laws Court of Justice of the European Union case law Immigrants to Ireland 2004 in case law 2004 in British law United Kingdom immigration case law

Facts

Judgment

See also

References