Nationality -J. G. Starke: “Nationality” is a status of membership of the collectively of individuals whose acts, decisions, and policy are vouchsafed (accord, bestow, confer) through the legal conception of the state representing those individuals.
Fenwick: “Nationality” is the bond that writes a person to a given state which constitute his membership in a particular state, which gives him a claim to the protection of that state and which subjects him to the obligation created by law of that state.
Hyde: “Nationality” refers to the relationship between a state and individual that the former may with reason regard the latter as owing allegiance (faithfulness, loyalty) to itself.
L. Oppenheim: Nationality of an individual is his quality of being a subject of a certain state, and therefore its citizen. It is not for International Law but for Municipal Law to determine who is, and who is not, to be considered a subject.
Re Lynch case: In the case “Re Lynch”, the United States Mexico General Claims Commission defined the term “Nationality” as follows:
A man’s nationality is a continuing relationship between the sovereign state on the one hand and the citizen on the other.
Modes of acquisition of nationality: The practice of states shows that nationality may be acquired in the following principal ways:
1. By birth: Generally the nationality is acquired by birth, a person becomes the national of that state when he borne. Nationality by birth is acquired on the following two basis:
(1) Jus Soli: Jus Soli means the territory of birth, a person may acquire the nationality of that state, in which territory he borns.
(2) Jus Sanguinis: Jus Sanguinis means that the nationality of the parents at birth. Most of the states gives the their nationality to the children of their nationals notwithstanding whether they born in its territory or not.
2. By naturalization: Naturalization is an administrative act of the state conferring citizenship or nationality on an alien. A person may acquire the nationality of a state on the following bases.
(1) By marriage: Many states give the right that to wife or husband of his national may assume the nationality of his or her spouse.
(2) By legitimization: A person may acquire the nationality of state on application on the basis of long residence in its territory or having the domicile of that state.
(3) By official grant: Nationality may be acquired by official grant of nationality on application to the state authorities.
3. Inhabitants of a conquered territory: The inhabitant of a subjugated or conquered state or territory may assume the nationality of the conquering state.
4. By resumption: If the national of a state loses the nationality of that state on any ground, he may resume the nationality of that state. This is called resumption of nationality.
5. Inhabitants of Acceded Territory: The inhabitants of a acceded territory or state may acquire the nationality of that state to which the territory is ceded (transferred, conveyed).
6. Inhabitants of a newly emerged state’s territory: The inhabitants of the territory of a newly emerged state may assume the national of that new state.
Lost of nationality: According to the practice of states, following modes may lose nationality:
1. By release: A person may loss nationality of a particular state by release. For example, by deed signed and registered at a consulate, or by declaration of alienate under British statute.
2. Renunciation: For, example some states declare a child born of foreign parents on their territory to be their natural born subject, although he becomes at the same time, according to the Municipal Law of the home state of the parents. A subject of such state, give the right to such child to make, after coming of age, a declaration that he desires to be a citizen.
3. By deprivation: A state may deprive a person from its nationality, for example, under special denationalization laws passed by the state of which the person concerned is a national.
4. Accession or conquer: Inhabitants of acceded or conquered state may lose the nationality of that acceded state and her inhabitants.
5. Substitution or acquisition of other state’s nationality: A person may lose its prior nationality on acquisition of other state’s nationality. According to the law of many states, the nationality of their subject is extinguished ipso facto by their naturalization abroad.
6. Sentence or punishment: A state may deprive the person from its nationality by way of sentence or punishment of a crime, e.g., treason etc.
7. Long residence abroad or expiration: A person may lose his nationality on account of long residence abroad.
Statelessness: Statelessness is a condition of a person having no citizenship and no official belonging to any country.
J. Russell: It was observed by J. Russell in the case of Stoeck v The Public Trustee that statelessness is a condition recognized by English law.
L. Oppenheim: Oppenheim observed that “a person may be destituted of nationality knowingly or unknowingly, intentionally or through no default of his own.” A stateless person vis-a-vis a person without nationality is peculiarly (highly) open to persecution and general hardships.
Cases of statelessness: Oppenheim mentions several cases of statelessness such as:
By birth: He says, that even by birth a person may be stateless. Thus an illegitimate child born in Germany of an English mother is actually destitute of nationality, because according to German law, it does not acquire German nationality, and according to British law, it does not acquire British nationality.
After birth: Statelessness may also take place after birth, i.e., by deprivation of nationality. All individuals who have lost their original nationality without having acquired another are in fact destitute of nationality.
Remedial actions for statelessness: Following are the remedial actions taken for the relief to stateless persons:
Hague Convention of 1930: The Hague Convention of 1930 on the conflict of nationality laws not doubt desired to end the state of statelessness and double nationality, but the provisions contained therein did not help much for want of ratification on the part of the states.
1. Nationality of a child: The convention provided that a child whose parents are unknown or who have no nationality or whose nationality is unknown is to have the nationality of the country of birth.
2. Imposing duties upon states: Statelessness can be remedied by imposing duties upon states to regard a certain nationality as lost.
3. Obliging states to refrain from denationalization: Remedial action for the condition lies in obliging states to refrain from denationalization measures unless there is just cause.
4. Conferment (giving) of nationality by liberal minded states: Statelessness can be to much extent remedied by conferment by liberal minded states of their nationality upon stateless persons.
5. Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: It is provided in Article 15 that everyone has the right to a nationality and that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality.
6. Naturalization: The process of naturalization can remedy statelessness but it can easily be happened or done when the states will encourage it.
The convention relating to the status of stateless persons signed in New York on September 28, 1954 conferred important benefits on stateless persons.
The subject of statelessness, and of remedial action in regard to it, has been under study by the International Law Commission, 1953, and by the General Assembly of the United Nations.
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