Chapter III.
PLEDGES
g. Harmonization of the LRA with the Alien and Nationality Laws
and the Labor Laws of Liberia;
h. UNHCR, in addition to its statutory function as a non-voting
member of the Commission, shall also serve in an advisory
capacity;
i. The Vice Chairmanship of Board of Commissioners now shifts
from the Ministry of Planning to the Ministry of Justice.
Statelessness
2. The issue of conflict of laws with the Constitution and the Alien
and Nationality Laws of Liberia with particular emphasis on article
28 of the Constitution and article 20.1 of the Alien and Nationality
Laws of Liberia regarding the nationality of children born outside
Liberia by either parents of Liberian descent (transmitting Nationality to Children) will be amended to reflect international best practices and as much as possible reduce statelessness. This issue of
conflict could discriminate between men and women and lead to
statelessness. The Government pledges that the 1973 Alien and Nationality Laws will be amended to ensure that nationality is equally
transmitted by any of the parents as enshrined in the Organic Law
of the land (the Constitution). The Government will do everything
possible to ensure the amendments reflect the vision of the framers of the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the State.
The present practice of the Alien and Nationality Laws is that only the
father can transmit nationality when the child is born outside of Liberia
while the Constitution states that one of the parents who is a Liberian citizen can transmit nationality. Indeed, this is a conflict and Liberia has ratified
the 1954 and 1961 Conventions on Statelessness.
The Kampala Convention
3. The African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance
of Internally Displaced persons (IDPs) is known as and styled the
Kampala Convention.
The Liberian Government participated in all deliberations that formulated
the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons. The Liberian Government’s representatives participated in the adoption of the Convention and signed the Convention on
October 22, 2009, during a Special Summit of the African Union held in
Kampala, Uganda. The office of the President of Liberia has forwarded the
Convention to the National Legislature for ratification. The Liberian Government pledges that the Convention will be ratified in 2012.
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