The Prohibition of Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality under International Law and EU Law: New Perspectives

Molnár, Tamás (2015) The Prohibition of Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality under International Law and EU Law: New Perspectives. In: Hungarian Yearbook of International Law and European Law 2014. Eleven International Publishing, Portland, pp. 67-92. ISBN 978‐94‐6236‐503‐2

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Abstract

Arbitrary deprivation of nationality is of serious concern to the international community. Such acts of the State effectively place the persons concerned in a ‘legal vacuum’ regarding the enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, in particular in areas of education, housing, employment, health and social security since these persons are put in a situation of high vulnerability to human rights violations. This paper first highlights the international law framework prohibiting deprivation of nationality (1948 UDHR, 1966 ICCPR and other human rights conventions in which this prohibition is the negative aspect of everyone’s right to nationality as well the specific statelessness conventions such as the 1961 UN Convention or the 1997 European Convention on Nationality). Against this background, some leading cases on this matter are shortly discussed and compared (e.g. in the EU, the CJEU’s judgment in the Rottmann case). As for the new developments, on the universal plane, the UN has recently started putting more emphasis on this topic (see e.g. UNGA and HRC resolutions, the work of the OHCHR as well as various UN reports) and now EU law is not untouched by this issue anymore. Despite the lack of explicit EU competences in this regard, the obligation not to arbitrary deprive someone’s nationality has been completed with EU law requirements, principally stemming from the fundamental character of EU citizenship. Interestingly, convergences between UN (soft) law and EU (case) law can be witnessed in the light of the recent developments.

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