44
SECTION I.A.1
In Liechtenstein v Guatemala (‘Nottebohm’), while
adjudicating between the contesting nationality claims of
Friedrich Nottebohm, the International Court of Justice (‘ICJ’)
defined nationality as:
...a legal bond having as its basis a social fact of attachment, a
genuine connection of existence, interests and sentiments, together
with the existence of reciprocal rights and duties. It may be said to
constitute the juridical expression of the fact that the individual...
is in fact more closely connected with the population of the State
conferring nationality than with that of any other State.24
To determine the effective nationality of Mr. Nottebohm,
the Court elaborated on ‘genuine link’ as a necessary,
supplementary test of a person’s nationality in international law.
Here, it was for both the states to contest whether Mr. Nottebohm
was genuinely connected to Liechtenstein. The Court included a
non-exhaustive list of broad factors to help ascertain this genuine
link – ‘the habitual residence of the individual concerned is an
important factor, but there are other factors such as the centre of
his interests, his family ties, his participation in public life,
attachment shown by him for a given country and inculcated in
his children, etc’.25 The Court clarified that it is still each country’s
sovereign prerogative to devise their own rules for granting its
nationality. These rules reflect the juridical expression of the
close connection of the individual with that particular State,
rather than any other State.
see Section I.B (Chapter I),
pg 66
To operationalise the genuine link test, it is inferred that
states must recognise the individuals who fulfil these factors in
Nottebohm and grant them nationality. The absence of such a
connection with any other nation further cements the individual’s
claim to nationality (as in Nottebohm), which is tied to the
international law obligation to not cause statelessness [↘].
24
Nottebohm Case (Liechtenstein v Guatemala) [1955] ICJ 23.
25 ibid 22.
SECURING CITIZENSHIP