Background
NN applied for Swedish citizenship. The Swedish Migration Agency denied the application, and NN appealed that decision to the Government.
On January 29, 2026, the Government, acting through the Ministry of Justice, rejected the appeal on security grounds. NN then applied to the Supreme Administrative Court for judicial review of the Government’s decision.
The Court’s Holding
The Supreme Administrative Court dismissed the application as inadmissible. Sections 1 and 3 of the Act on Judicial Review of Certain Government Decisions permit an individual to seek review of a government decision only when it involves determining the individual’s civil rights or obligations within the meaning of Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Court held that citizenship acquired by application is not an individual right. Rather, the state has the exclusive authority to decide, through a discretionary assessment within a reasonable interpretation of the citizenship legislation, whether a person should be admitted to Swedish citizenship. The Government’s decision therefore did not determine NN’s civil rights under Article 6(1) and was not subject to judicial review. The Court also ordered continued statutory confidentiality for information contained in the annex to its decision.
Key Takeaways
- Swedish citizenship obtained by application is not treated as an individual civil right.
- A government citizenship decision does not fall within the judicial-review statute unless it determines civil rights or obligations under Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
- Because the Government’s security-based refusal did not meet that threshold, the Supreme Administrative Court dismissed NN’s application without reviewing the merits of the citizenship decision.
Why It Matters
The decision confirms that Sweden’s statutory procedure for reviewing certain government decisions does not extend to discretionary citizenship determinations. An applicant cannot invoke that procedure merely because the Government has finally rejected a citizenship application, including where the rejection rests on security grounds.
The ruling is procedural rather than a determination that the Government’s security assessment was correct: the Court concluded that it lacked a reviewable Article 6(1) civil-rights issue and therefore did not reach the merits.