A/HRC/25/28 from the State whose nationality he or she possessed until that time”.53 Nevertheless, the International Law Commission has suggested that “a State shall not make its national an alien by deprivation of nationality for the sole purpose of expelling him or her”.54 According to the Human Rights Committee in its general comment on article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, reference to a person’s right to enter “his own country” in article 12 is broader than the concept of “country of nationality”.55 Where “nationals of a country […] have been stripped of their nationality in violation of international law”,56 a person whose nationality has been withdrawn will continue to hold the right to enter and reside in that country, as his or her “own country” under international law. Equally, the person may continue to enjoy their private or family life in that country, which can also form a barrier to expulsion.57 Furthermore, where a person has been left stateless through loss or deprivation of nationality, the State may be required to provide a right of residence in order to ensure the enjoyment of the rights guaranteed to stateless persons under the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and human rights law.58 III. Acquisition of nationality by a child who would otherwise be stateless 27. States must not only comply with international norms and standards when depriving a person of his or her nationality, but the conditions and procedures under which States confer nationality are also subject to the scrutiny of international law.59 In accordance with the human right of every child to acquire a nationality,60 of particular interest are the legislative and administrative measures concerning the acquisition of nationality by a child who would otherwise be stateless. A. Child born in a country, who would otherwise be stateless 28. Central to the fulfilment of the child’s right to a nationality, as provided for in article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, is the safeguard that allows otherwise stateless children born in the territory of a State to acquire a nationality.61 This is also contained as an explicit obligation in the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and several regional treaties. Granting access to nationality jus soli (by birthplace) as a safeguard against statelessness — even where jus sanguinis (by descent) is the preferred method of conferral of nationality — is now recognized in the law of many 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 12 A/CN.4/594, para. 29. Emphasis added. See A/CN.4/L.797, draft article 9. Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 27 (1999) on freedom of movement, para. 20. Ibid. As protected, for instance, under article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. See also European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence on the expulsion of aliens, and African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, comm. 97/93, Modise v. Botswana, 2000. See UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 3: The Status of Stateless Persons at the National Level, 17 July 2012, HCR/GS/12/03, para. 28. See, for instance, A/HRC/13/34, para. 23; Human Rights Committee, comm. 1136/2002, Borzov v. Estonia, 26 July 2004, para. 7.3. See Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 7; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 24. Submission from Plan International. See also UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4: Ensuring Every Child’s Right to Acquire a Nationality, 21 December 2012, HCR/GS/12/04.