powers by regulating deprivation of nationality following a conviction for a terrorist offence punished by at least five years of imprisonment.33 27. There is a safeguard against statelessness in all provisions permitting deprivation of Belgian nationality, except if nationality was acquired by fraud. In this case, even if the person does not have another nationality, deprivation of nationality will be ordered after the expiry of a reasonable period determined by the Court to allow the person to try and recover their original nationality. Also, under the Belgian Nationality Code, deprivation may not be requested for persons who hold Belgian nationality through one of their parents or who have become Belgian nationals at birth. 34 This means that deprivation of nationality is in fact a discriminatory measure which does not apply to birthright citizens, but is limited to naturalised citizens, i.e. those with a migrant heritage who are more likely to belong to ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. 28. Under international law, states have traditionally been granted broad discretion in the regulation of nationality matters. This is not, however, an absolute discretion. States' prerogative in nationality matters has been gradually limited by the evolution of human rights law. The Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure,35 and the UNHCR Guidelines on Statelessness No 5: Loss and Deprivation of Nationality provide important clarification, 36 respectively from a wider international law perspective and more specifically in relation to the 1961 Convention. 29. Accordingly, state discretion in this area is subject to the individual right to nationality,37 the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality, 38 the prohibition of discrimination 39 and the obligation to avoid statelessness. 40 In this regard, the UN Special Rapporteur on racism has stated that: 33 Wautelet, P., “Deprivation of Citizenship for ‘Jihadists’, Analysis of Belgium and French practice and policy in light of the principle of equal treatment”, January 2016, available at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2713742. 34https://cadmus.eui.eu/bitstream/handle/1814/19603/RSCAS_EUDO_CIT_2013_27.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y. 35 Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure, March 2020. Available at: https://files.institutesi.org/PRINCIPLES.pdf. The Principles were drafted by ISI in collaboration with the Open Society Justice Initiative and with support from the Asser Institute and Ashurst LLP. They were developed over a 30-month research and consultation period, with input from more than 60 leading experts in the fields of human rights, nationality and statelessness, counter-terrorism, refugee protection, child rights, migration and other related areas. At the time of submission, they have been endorsed by over 100 individual experts and organisations, including leading academics, UN Special Rapporteurs and Treaty Body members, litigators, judges, parliamentarians and diplomats. The Principles restate or reflect international law and legal standards under the UN Charter, treaty law, customary international law, general principles of law, judicial decisions and legal scholarship, regional and national law and practice. They articulate the international law obligations of States and apply to all situations in which States take or consider taking steps to deprive a person of nationality as a national security measure. More information is available here: https://www.institutesi.org/year-of-actionresources/principles-on-deprivation-ofnationality. 36 UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Guidelines on Statelessness No. 5: Loss and Deprivation of Nationality under Articles 5-9 of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, May 2020, HCR/GS/20/05, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5ec5640c4.html. The Guidelines provide authoritative guidance on the interpretation of Articles 5 – 9 of the1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. They draw on the Summary Conclusions of the Expert Meeting on Interpreting the 1961 Statelessness Convention and Avoiding Statelessness Resulting from Loss and Deprivation held in Tunis, Tunisia on 31 October-1. 37 Human Rights Council Resolution 7/10, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/7/10 (27 March 2008); Human Rights Council Resolution 10/13, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/10/13 (26 March 2009); Human Rights Council Resolution 13/2, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/13/2 (24 April 2010); Human Rights Council Resolution 20/4, The right to a nationality: women and children, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/20/4 (16 July 2012); Human Rights Council Resolution 20/5, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/20/5 (16 July 2012); Human Rights Council Resolution 26/14, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/26/14 (11 July 2014); Human Rights Council Resolution 32/5, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality, UN Doc A/HRC/RES/32/5 (15 July 2016). 38 Principles on Deprivation of Nationality as a National Security Measure, March 2020. Available at: https://files.institutesi.org/PRINCIPLES.pdf, Principle 7. See also, the Draft Commentary to the Principles, available at: https://files.institutesi.org/PRINCIPLES_Draft_Commentary.pdf. 39 Ibid., Principle 6. 40 Ibid., Principle 5. 8