Zecharias Fassil on her. If it did not, she kept her Ethiopian nationality.17 Article 4 of the law can be regarded as discriminatory. The deprivation of nationality appears to be automatic as long as the marriage conferred the nationality of the woman’s husband. A striking detail of this nationality law is that under Article 10 it provides that the adoption of an Ethiopian child by foreign nationals does not change the adopted child's original nationality. This is striking for two reasons. One is that the law purported to give protection against statelessness and the other is that it envisioned the legal regime of adoption long before family law was adopted in the Ethiopian legal regime. It is surprising that the law did not provide rules on the acquisition of Ethiopian nationality in the case of a foreign child adopted by an Ethiopian. Article 11 provides the conditions whereby the loss of Ethiopian nationality could occur. These were when an Ethiopian woman marries a foreign national and adopts her husband’s nationality and when an Ethiopian changes his nationality and acquires foreign nationality. Citizenship by naturalisation for foreigners to acquire Ethiopian nationality was also provided for by this law in five of its articles. The cumulative conditions that need to be fulfilled are that the foreigner should have the age of majority, have lived in Ethiopia for at least 5 years, be earning a living, be proficient in the Amharic language, and be free of a criminal or sinful record.18 Here, it is worth noting that, according to a translation provided by Refworld, ‘sin’ is translated as breaking common law. The author has referred to early texts translated into English by Fasil Nahum. It can certainly be said that the criteria for naturalisation were strict, especially the requirement for proficiency in the working language of Amharic and the fact that there was no exception to these requirements. This could be due to the conservative nature of the monarch. After going through the evaluation procedure naturalisation was conferred by a decree.19 Moreover, the effects of naturalisation were not transferable to a legitimate wife. ‘Legitimate wife’ refers to a legitimate religious or civil marriage either in Ethiopia or abroad.20 This strict approach, however, was relaxed four years after the nationality law was adopted. It was amended to allow granting of citizenship to foreigners who were deemed to be useful or if there was special reason to grant Ethiopian nationality irrespective of the formal requirements stipulated in the law.21 Another part of the law provided readmission to Ethiopian nationality by affirming that Ethiopians who have acquired a foreign nationality may always obtain the benefit of Ethiopian nationality when they return to reside in the country and apply for readmission. Similarly, an 17 Article 4 reads “A lawful marriage contracted abroad of an Ethiopian woman with a foreigner deprives her of the Ethiopian nationality if her marriage with the foreigner gives her the nationality of her husband; otherwise she keeps her Ethiopian nationality. In case when the woman, losing her Ethiopian nationality, is the proprietor of real estate the administration of her property shall be settled in conformity with the law given to that effect by the Imperial Ethiopian government.” 18 Article 12. 19 Article 15 reads “The naturalisation shall be conferred by decree and the new Ethiopian subject shall take an oath of allegiance to the Empire before the commission.” Art 16 states “The naturalisation thus conferred does not extend its effects to the legitimate wife of the naturalised man, unless she applies personally for this benefit. 20 See Articles 3 and 4. 21 Proclamation Amending the Nationality law of Hamle 15,1922 (Ethiopian Calendar). The amendment reads "The Imperial Ethiopian Government may Grant Ethiopian Nationality to a foreign applicant if he is deemed to be useful to the country or if there are some special reasons for granting him Ethiopian Nationality, notwithstanding non-compliance with Article 12 (sub-arts. (b) and (d) of the aforesaid Nationality Law. Date Meskerem 25, 1926 Ethiopian Calendar). 6 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/9- © 2020 Author(s)