Report on Citizenship Law: Ethiopia case law gives a comprehensive legal definition of the term. In the 1955 Nottebohm case, nationality is defined as follows: According to the practice of States, to arbitral and judicial decisions and to the opinion of writers, nationality is a legal bond having as its basis a social fact of attachment, a genuine connection of existence, interest and sentiments, together with the existence of reciprocal rights and duties.6 In this definition, the defining elements of citizenship are a legal bond, a genuine connection of existence and reciprocal rights and duties. Similarly, a definition by an Ethiopian jurist who wrote the first article on nationality law in Ethiopia, Fasil Nahum, is that it is "the relationship of allegiance, protection and identification which an individual has with a state. Nationality is a status that results from both act and intent and usually entails participation in the functions of the state.”7 This is the definition adopted in this paper. Ius soli and ius sanguinis have become the principles with which many states determine nationality. Even though their theoretical classification is easy, their practical application is not as easy as one might assume. Some states use a compromise between the two, some adhere to one of them, and in a considerable number of nation states both principles are applicable. In this complex scenario, marriage is one of the determining variables. The complexity of nationality law has caught the attention of states. In 1930 there was a Hague Convention on conflict of nationality laws. This convention aspired to uniformity. Historian jurists like Fasil Nahum have stated that this convention served as a foundation for Ethiopia’s 1930 nationality law,8 which helps explain the content and shape of the imperial nationality law. 2.1. The impact of international law on Ethiopia’s citizenship law Ethiopia was one of the few African states able to participate in the formation of the United Nations. In addition, Ethiopia voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 – one of the few African states able to do so. The adoption of the UDHR by Ethiopia and its active participation in the ratification and adoption of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural rights (ICESCR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the African Human and Peoples’ Rights Charter and the African Charter on Rights and Welfare of the Child reinforced the alignment of rules in its nationality law.9 6 The decision is available at https://www.icj-cij.org/files/case-related/18/018-19550406-JUD-01-00-EN.pdf. see page 23, last paragraph. Last accessed 18 February 2020. 7 Fasil Nahum, Ethiopian Nationality Law and Practice, Ethiopian Journal of Law, VOL VIII-No.1, pp 168-183, https://journals.co.za/docserver/fulltext/jel/8/1/344.pdf?expires=1575962782&id=id&accname=guest&checksu m=A4FB4D1BE62E90EFC62C49459219F659 8 Fasil, 169. 9 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Ethiopia on 11 June 1993, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, ratified by Ethiopia on 11 June 1993, Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by Ethiopia on 14 May 1991. Source: Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN treaty data base, available at https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/_layouts/15/TreatyBodyExternal/Treaty.aspx?CountryID=59&Lang=EN, last accessed 15 March 2020; The African Charter on Human & Peoples’ Rights, ratified by Ethiopia on 15/06/1998. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/9 - © 2020 Author(s) 3