The European Convention on Nationality ( E.T.S. No. 166) was signed in Strasbourg on 6 November 1997. It is a comprehensive convention of the Council of Europe dealing with the law of

nationality Nationality is a legal identification of a person in international law, establishing the person as a subject, a ''national'', of a sovereign state. It affords the state jurisdiction over the person and affords the person the protection of the ...

. The convention is open for signature by the member States of the Council of Europe and the non-member States which have participated in its elaboration and for accession by other non-member States. The Convention came into force on 1 March 2000 after ratification by 3 countries. As of 2021, the convention has been signed by 29 countries and ratified by 21 of those countries.

Provisions

Article 4(d) provides that neither marriage nor dissolution of marriage shall automatically affect the nationality of either spouse, nor shall a change of nationality by one spouse during marriage automatically affect the nationality of their spouse. Common practice among states at the beginning of the 20th century was that a woman was to have the nationality of her husband; i.e., upon marrying a foreigner the wife would automatically acquire the nationality of her husband, and lose her previous nationality. Even after the nationality of a married woman was no longer dependent on the nationality of her husband, legal provisions were still retained which automatically naturalised married women, and sometimes married men as well. This led to a number of problems, such as loss of the spouses' original nationality, the spouse losing the right to

consular assistance Consular assistance is help and advice provided by the diplomatic agents of a country to citizens of that country who are living or traveling overseas. The diplomats may be honorary consuls, or members of the country's diplomatic service. Such a ...

(since consular assistance cannot be provided to nationals under the jurisdiction of a foreign state of which they are also nationals), and becoming subject to military service obligations. Article 4d addresses this situation. Article 5 provides that no discrimination shall exist in a state's internal nationality law on the grounds of "sex, religion, race, colour or national or ethnic origin". It also provides that a state shall not discriminate amongst its nationals on the basis of whether they hold their nationality by birth or acquired it subsequently. Article 6 relates to the acquisition of nationality. It provides for nationality to be acquired at birth by descent from either parent to those born within the territory of the state. (States may exclude partially or fully children born abroad). It also provides for nationality by virtue of birth in the territory of state; however, states may limit this to only children who would be otherwise stateless. It requires the possibility of

naturalisation Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

, and provides that the period of residence required for eligibility cannot be more than ten years lawful and

habitual residence In conflict of laws, habitual residence is the standard used to determine the law which should be applied to determine a given legal dispute or legal entitlement. It can be contrasted with the law on domicile, traditionally used in common law juri ...

. It also requires to "facilitate" the acquisition of nationality by certain persons, including spouses of nationals, children of its nationals born abroad, children one of whose parents has acquired the nationality, children adopted by a national, persons lawfully and habitually resident for a period before the age of eighteen, and

stateless person Stateless may refer to: Society * Anarchism, a political philosophy opposed to the institution of the state * Stateless communism, which Karl Marx predicted would be the final phase of communism * Stateless nation, a group of people without ...

s and refugees lawfully and habitually resident on its territory. Article 7 regulates the involuntary loss of nationality. It provides that states may deprive their nationals of their nationality in only the cases of voluntary acquisition of another nationality, fraud or failure to provide relevant information when acquiring nationality, voluntary military service in a foreign military force, or adoption as a child by foreign nationals. It also provides for the possibility of loss of nationality for nationals habitually residing abroad. Finally it provides loss of nationality for "conduct seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the State Party". Article 8 provides nationals with the right to renounce their nationality, providing they do not thereby become stateless. States may however restrict this right with respect to nationals residing abroad.

Status

As at 6 March 2014, the following countries have signed or ratified the convention:

References

External links

Details of the convention
{{International human rights legal instruments Human migration Council of Europe treaties Nationality treaties Treaties concluded in 1997 Treaties of Albania Treaties of the Czech Republic Treaties of Denmark Treaties of Germany Treaties of Hungary Treaties of Iceland Treaties of Moldova Treaties of the Netherlands Treaties of Slovakia Treaties of Sweden Treaties of North Macedonia Treaties of Ukraine 1997 in France Treaties entered into force in 2000 Treaties extended to Greenland Treaties extended to the Faroe Islands Treaties extended to Aruba Treaties extended to the Netherlands Antilles