Nationality law
Law governing acquisition and loss of national identity.
Nationality law is the law of a sovereign state, and of each of its jurisdictions, that defines the legal manner in which a national identity is acquired and how it may be lost. In international law, the legal means to acquire nationality and formal membership in a nation are separated from the relationship between a national and the nation, known as citizenship. Some nations domestically use the terms interchangeably, though by the 20th century, nationality had commonly come to mean the status of belonging to a particular nation with no regard to the type of governance which established a relationship between the nation and its people.
- field
- Nationality law
- known_for
- Defining acquisition and loss of nationality through principles such as jus soli, jus sanguinis, jus matrimonii, and naturalization
Lore & Background
Nationality law operates under several bases for acquisition, including jus soli (birth on the soil), jus sanguinis (descent), and jus matrimonii (marriage). Unconditional jus soli is concentrated in the Americas, while many other states provide only conditional forms of birthright citizenship. For example, Cambodia grants Khmer nationality at birth to a child born in Cambodia to foreign parents when both parents were themselves born and legally resident in Cambodia.
Reader's Guide
Nationality law is significant because it determines who belongs to a sovereign state and under what conditions. It distinguishes between nationality under international law and citizenship under domestic statutes, with different regulatory agencies monitoring compliance. States generally have the right to freely determine who they recognize as nationals, but this right is not absolute; they must comply with human rights obligations, including the prohibition against arbitrary deprivation of nationality as codified in article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights further limited state's right, stating that manners in which states regulate matters bearing on nationality cannot be deemed within their sole jurisdiction. Some states provide facilitated acquisition for persons of specified national or ethnic origin, such as Armenia and Bulgaria.
Did You Know?
- Unconditional jus soli is concentrated in the Americas, while many other states provide only conditional forms of birthright citizenship.
- Article 27(b) of the Constitution of Liberia states that only persons who are 'Negroes or of Negro descent' qualify by birth or naturalization to be citizens.
- Citizenship of the Vatican City is jus officii, based on appointment to work in service of the Holy See, and usually ceases upon cessation of the appointment.
- The Inter-American Court of Human Rights stated that manners in which states regulate matters bearing on nationality cannot be deemed within their sole jurisdiction.
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