Citizenship (Chapter IV)

The Constitution sets out from Article 41 to 45 how a person acquires citizenship of
Guyana. This includes citizenship by birth, naturalisation, marriage or persons who were
citizens before the commencement of the Constitution or married to citizens before the
commencement of the Constitution.

Article 42 of the Constitution faced challenges of its language. In the case of Neilson
v Barker et al1 , the defendant claims that he is a citizen of Guyana as he had married a
citizen of Guyana registered for citizenship under Article 42 of Guyana's Constitution. The
counsel for the defendant argued that section 7 of the Guyana Citizenship Act, Cap 14:01,
infringes the Supremacy of the Constitution and the separation of power doctrine. Alluding to
article 45,

"Any person who, after the commencement of this Constitution, marries a person who
is or becomes a citizen of Guyana shall be entitled, upon making application in such
manner and taking such oath of allegiance as may be prescribed, to be registered as a
citizen of Guyana:

Provided that the right to be registered as a citizen of Guyana under this article shall
be subject to such exceptions or qualifications as may be prescribed in the interests of
national security or public policy."2

1
GY 1982 CA 5
2
Constitution of the Co-operative Republic of Guyana Act 2012, Cap 1:01, s45