SAHNI ARTICLE 3.3.21 (WORD) (DO NOT DELETE) 5/6/2021 7:21 PM Loss of Nationality Rights Spring 2021 115 the Convention relating to the Status of Refugee Persons.28 Both clauses identify the types of stateless persons or refugees that their respective Conventions do not heed. As legal treaties that focus on human rights, it is surprising—if not counter-productive—that the Conventions omit the highest evidentiary standards of proof to justify excluding these individuals. The Conventions operate on grounds of assumptions, allegations, 29 and “serious reasons for considering”30 that an individual is guilty of these transgressions. The individual has committed a crime against peace or humanity, has committed a serious non-political crime before entering the current country of residence, or, has been guilty of acts contrary to U.N. purposes and principles.31 The 1961 Statelessness Convention expands on Article 15(2) of the UDHR. It identifies the means by which a person loses his nationality and is rendered stateless.32 The loss might be deliberate or self-inflicted such as when the individual is in the process of renouncing his citizenship to acquire that of another state.33 Alternatively, the loss might be beyond a person’s control. That can occur when a State refuses to confer nationality rights at all or removes previously existing rights arbitrarily or without due process.34 For example, a person might be born stateless, or a person might become stateless when his nationality is revoked. This Article discusses situations where nationality rights are denied—or when access to those rights is denied. It will analyse whether these situations comprise illegalities or legal loopholes and how national and international law address or redress the issues. The main question to consider is if and how States exercise due process for the complainants, stateless or otherwise. II. DISCUSSION A. The Right to Nationality and the Right to Citizenship There is no statutory or common law legal definition of ‘nationality’ or ‘citizenship’ in international law. Nor are there legal definitions of the rights 28. Id. art. I, ¶ 2(iii)(a)-(c); See also G.A. Res. 429 (V), United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, at art. I(F)(a)-(c) (July 28, 1951) [hereinafter 1951 Refugee Convention]. 29. NEHEMIAH ROBINSON, CONVENTION RELATING TO THE STATUS OF STATELESS PERSONS, ITS HISTORY AND INTERPRETATION (1955), reprinted in DIVISION OF INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES 13-14 (1997). 30. 1954 Statelessness Convention, supra note 7, at art. I, ¶ 2(iii); see also 1951 Refugee Convention, supra note 28, at art. I, ¶ (F). 31. 1954 Statelessness Convention, supra note 7, at art. I, ¶ 2(iii)(a)-(c); see also 1951 Refugee Convention, supra note 28, at art. I, ¶ F(a)-(c). 32. 1961 Statelessness Convention, supra note 22, at art. V-VI, VIII-IX, X. 33. Id. at art. 7. 34. Id. at art. 1-6, 8-10.