See Trop v. Dulles,: See UNHCR, Ending Statelessness

NATIONALITY : OVERVIEW
Nationality is a legal relationship between an individual person and a

state. Nationality affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords
the person the protection of the state. ... By custom and international
conventions, it is the right of each state to determine who its nationals are.
The right to a nationality is of paramount importance to the realization of
other fundamental human rights. Possession of a nationality carries with it
the diplomatic protection of the country of nationality and is also often a
legal or practical requirement for the exercise of fundamental rights.
Consequently, the right to a nationality has been described as the “right to
have rights.” See Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 101–02 (1958).
Individuals who lack a nationality or an effective citizenship are therefore

among the world’s most vulnerable to human rights violations. In
recognition of the importance of having a nationality, a number of regional
and international human rights instruments include the right to a
nationality.
Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that
“[e]veryone has the right to a nationality” and that “[n]o one shall be
arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his
nationality.
Despite recognition of the right to a nationality, there are currently at

least 10 million people who do not have a nationality and are therefore
stateless. See UNHCR, Ending Statelessness While statelessness is a global
problem, it is particularly prevalent in South East Asia, Central Asia, Eastern
Europe, the Middle East, and several countries in Africa.
Nationality can be a contentious issue, however, as the acquisition and
deprivation of nationality implicates other areas of the law including a
State’s sovereign right to determine who may enter and remain within its
territory. Consequently neither the 1954 nor the 1961 Statelessness
Conventions are widely ratified and a large number of States have domestic
laws that deprive individuals of access to a nationality on a discriminatory
basis and/or do not adequately protect the human rights of stateless
persons on their territory.
Acquisition of Nationality
Nationality can be acquired in one of three ways:
1. by birth on a State’s territory (jus soli),

2. by descent from a State’s national (jus sanguinis), or
3. by naturalization.
The citizenship laws of each State dictate whether the State applies jus
soli or jus sanguinis and explain the requirements for naturalization.
In States that apply pure jus soli, an individual acquires the citizenship of
that State by being born on the State’s territory, regardless of the
citizenship or immigration status of the individual’s parents. In other States,
such as the United Kingdom, an individual acquires citizenship by birth on
the territory, provided that the individual’s parents were “legally settled” in
the United Kingdom at the time of the individual’s birth.
In States that apply jus sanguinis, it does not matter where an individual is
born; if at least one of the individual’s parents is a citizen of the country,
citizenship will pass from the parent to the child. A number of States,
however, provide that only the father may pass his nationality on to his
children.
Finally, States such as the United States, apply both jus soli and jus
sanguinis – that is, children born on U.S. territory are automatically U.S.
citizens, as are children born abroad to U.S. citizen parents. .
De Jure vs. De Facto Statelessness

The definition of a stateless person provided in the 1954 Statelessness
Convention – “a person who is not considered a national by any State under
operation of its law” – describes the situation of the de jure stateless.
There has been much debate within the international community concerning
the definition of de facto statelessness. A generally applied definition of a de
facto stateless person has been “a person unable to demonstrate that
he/she is de jure stateless, yet he/she has no effective nationality and does
not enjoy national protection.”
Causes of Statelessness
There are a variety of reasons why a person may be or become stateless.
The most commonly discussed causes of statelessness are: State
succession, conflict of laws and other technical or administrative matters,
discrimination against certain racial or ethnic minority groups, and gender-
based discrimination in nationality laws.
CONFLICT OF LAWS AND ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES
Statelessness cases in this context are the result of a variety of legal and
administrative factors.
The fact that some States apply jus soli while others apply jus sanguinis in
their citizenship laws is one such factor. A person may be at risk of
statelessness if she is born in a State that applies jus sanguinis while her
parents were born in a State that applies jus soli, leaving the person
ineligible for citizenship in both States due to conflicting laws.
Lack of registration at birth, which is a serious issue in developing
countries, also places children at risk of statelessness. Although not having
a birth certificate does not automatically make a child stateless, children
who have no legal proof of where they were born, the identity of their
parents, or the birthplace of their parents, are at a heightened risk of
statelessness.
CITIZEN of INDIA
The conferment of a person, as a citizen of India, is governed by Articles 5
to 11 (Part II) of the constitution. The legislation related to this matter is the
Citizenship Act 1955, which has been amended by the Citizenship
(Amendment) Acts of 1986, 1992, 2003, 2005, and 2015.
Article 9 of Indian Constitution says that a person who voluntarily acquires
citizenship of any other country is no longer an Indian citizen. Also,
according to the passports act, a person has to surrender his/her Indian
passport and voter card and other Indian ID cards must not be used after
another country's citizenship is obtained. It is a punishable offence if the
person fails to surrender the passport.
Indian nationality law largely follows the jus sanguinis (citizenship by right
of blood) as opposed to the jus soli (citizenship by right of birth within the
territory). The President of India is termed the First Citizen of India.
Conclusion:
Private international law is a branch of law that deals with the individuals’
relationship with one another and the states outside the domestic territory
and in the international arena.
Its scope includes nationality, residence, the foreigners’ status and the
conflict of laws and courts. Nationality mostly focuses on the personal
aspect and is in fact a bond that links an individual to a state in order for
him/her to benefit from the protection of that state. Possession of a state’s
nationality means the legal conditions of that state are collective for the
individual.
Therefore, nationality is a legal relationship between the individual and the
state, which causes the individual to be considered as a member of the
state in a territory. As a result of acquisition of nationality, acquired or
original, the individual will be provided with political and international
protection.
And since private international law and domestic law are related, the
individual will have to observe some obligations whose violation can cause
the individual lose his/her nationality and he/she will be stateless until
he/she obtains another state’s nationality.
Nationality specifies the individual’s national identity and as was referred to,
the individual will benefit from the civil rights as a result of his/her
nationality. He/she can also benefit from political rights like occupation
right, political positions, etc. inside the state of nationality, which in turn
brings about some responsibilities for the individual.
Finally, private international law has binding rules in the relationship
between states and individuals and observance of such rules causes
responsibilities and obligations and within private international law, the
discussion of nationality is not an exception for this principle.

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NATIONALITY : OVERVIEW

Nationality is a legal relationship between an individual person and a

Individuals who lack a nationality or an effective citizenship are therefore

Despite recognition of the right to a nationality, there are currently at

1. by birth on a State’s territory (jus soli),

De Jure vs. De Facto Statelessness

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