Dr.

Ram Manohar Lohiya

National Law University,
Lucknow
2021-2022
B.A.,L.L.B.(Hons.) 9th Semester

Project
on

Treaties: A Determining Factor for

Citizenship

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Dr. Rajneesh Yadav Vishal kumar arya

Assistant Professor (Law) Enrolment No. : 170101163

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express the deepest appreciation to Dr. Rajneesh Yadav Professor
(Law), who has the attitude and the substance of a genius: he continually and
convincingly con- veyed a spirit of adventure in regard to research, and an
excitement in regard to guiding. Without his guidance and persistent help this
research report would not have been possi- ble.

I would express my heartiest thanks to my Parents for being the source of my

motivation, my moral support and encouraging me for making this report possible.

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 Chapterization

S. No. Topics

1 Introduction

2 Acquisition of Nationality

3 De Jure vs. De Facto

Statelessness

4 Conflict of Laws and

Administrativ
e Practices

5 Enforcement at International
Level

6 Conclusion

Bibliography

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 Introduction

The right to a nationality is of paramount importance to the

realisation 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. Con- sequently, the right to a
nationality has been described as the “right to have rights.” 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.

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 Acquisition of Nationality

Nationality can be acquired in one of three ways: by birth on a State’s

territo- ry (jus soli), by descent from a State’s national (jus sanguinis),
or by natural- ization. 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. E.g., 8 U.S.C. § 1401. 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 set-
tled” in the United Kingdom at the time of the individual’s birth. See
British Nationality Act, 1981 c. 61, § 1 (United Kingdom). In States that
apply jus san- guinis, it does not matter where an individual is born; if
at least one of the in- dividual’s parents is a citizen of the country,
citizenship will pass from the parent to the child. See Act of 15
February 1962 on Polish Citizenship, § 2 (Poland). A number of States,
however, provide that only the father may pass his nationality on to his
children. (See Causes of Statelessness below.) 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 chil- dren
born abroad to U.S. citizen parents. See 8 U.S.C. § 1401.3

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 Conclusion

UNHCR assists governments in drafting and implementing nationality

legis- lation and provides training for government officials. Between
2003 and 2005, UNHCR worked with more than 40 States to help enact
new nationality laws and to revise older legislation. UNHCR offered
comments on constitu- tional provisions on nationality legislation for
States in which large segments of the population are either stateless or
have an undetermined nationality.
UNHCR works with parliaments to ensure that nationality legislation
does not lead to displacement and does not contain provisions that may
create statelessness. (See Annex 4 for a list of UNHCR offices around the
world.)
As planned in the Agenda for Protection, UNHCR launched the first
global survey on steps taken by UN member States to reduce
statelessness and to meet the protection needs of stateless persons. The
survey found that no re- gion in the world is free from statelessness and
that serious legislative and policy gaps remain, at both the international
and the national levels. UNHCR developed a comprehensive set of
recommendations drawn from an analysis of the responses provided by
74 States.

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