ALI CHARAF DAMACHE wins appeal over citizenship revocation process

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

ALI CHARAF DAMACHE won his appeal in the Supreme Court on 14 October 2020 over the process for revoking his Irish citizenship. The Supreme Court held that section 19 of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1956 was invalid because it lacked required procedural safeguards, including an independent and impartial decision-maker.

Damache pleaded guilty in a Philadelphia federal court in July 2018 to conspiring to materially assist an Islamist terrorist conspiracy. He was sentenced in October 2018 to 15 years’ imprisonment, with credit for time served in Ireland and Spain, and consented to deportation to Ireland or Algeria on release. The judgment records an intention to revoke his citizenship, but not a final revocation decision.