INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL LAW CHECKLIST
DOCUMENTS TO READ REGARDLESS OF WHERE YOUR PROJECT IS, AS THESE SET OUT
KEY PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND CAN BE USEFUL IN UNDERSTANDING
INTERNATIONAL NORMS AND ANALYZING GAPS IN NATIONAL LAWS:
4 RIGHT TO A NATIONALITY
• 1 948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
Article 15
• 1 954 Convention relating to the Status of
Stateless Persons, Article 1
• 1 961 Convention on the Reduction of
Statelessness, Articles 1—4
• 1 965 Convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Racial Discrimination, Article 5
• 1 966 International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights, Article 24
•9
79 Convention on the Elimination of all
forms of Discrimination Against Women,
Article 9
• 1 989 Convention on the Rights of the Child,
Articles 7 and 8
• 1 990 Convention on the Protection of the
Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members
of their Families, Article 29
RELATED RESOURCE
If the country where you would operate
has ratified any of these instruments, that
is one indication that a paralegal program
can succeed. You can determine this at the
following websites:
• Status of ratification of 18 international
human rights treaties, Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
• Minority rights legal framework and
resources, OHCHR
• UN Conventions on Statelessness, UNHCR
(links to lists of states party to each
convention)
•2
006 Convention on the Rights of Persons
with Disabilities, Article 18
DOCUMENTS THAT MAY NOT BE APPLICABLE IN YOUR COUNTRY, BUT MAY NEVERTHELESS
CONTAIN USEFUL PRINCIPLES AND IDEAS TO ADVOCATE FOR:
4 AFRICA
• 1 990 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare
of the Child, Article 6
•2
003 Protocol to the African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in
Africa, Article 6
•D
raft Protocol to the African Charter on Human
and Peoples’ Rights on the Right to Nationality
in Africa
4 EUROPE
• 1997 European Convention on Nationality
• 2006 Council of Europe Convention on the
Avoidance of Statelessness in relation to State
Succession
4 AMERICAS
• 1969 American Convention on Human Rights,
Article 20
A C O M M U N I T Y- B A S E D P R A C T I T I O N E R ’ S G U I D E : D O C U M E N T I N G C I T I Z E N S H I P A N D OT H E R F O R M S O F L E G A L I D E N T I T Y
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