Discrimination based on race, religion or ethnicity International law in relation to discrimination based on race, religion or ethnicity in grant or recognition of nationality has some ambiguities, given that nationality is frequently based on descent. Nonetheless, while preferential rules on acquisition of nationality may be permissible (within limits), deprivation or denial of nationality on discriminatory grounds is not permitted. The prohibition of racial discrimination is indeed widely recognised as a “peremptory norm” of international law. Decisions of the Inter-American and African human rights systems have been particularly strong in their condemnation of both direct and indirect discrimination in relation to nationality law and administration. Arbitrary denial or deprivation of nationality and the right to due process The prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality that is included within Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights requires that states must respect the right to due process when deploying administrative measures to deprive a person of nationality that has previously been recognised. Litigation before human rights courts and treaty bodies, as well as resolutions of the UN Human Rights Council and other soft law, have also established that arbitrary deprivation of nationality includes arbitrary denial of recognition of nationality to a person who appears to be entitled to such recognition, or on discriminatory grounds. Deprivation on grounds of fraud or criminal offences should be subject to a rule of proportionality. While human rights courts have generally been more deferential to the executive in national security cases, they have nonetheless established limits to state discretion, including in relation to proportionality and the evidence that a person is in fact a threat to state security. Acquisition of nationality based on habitual residence International law does not require any state to provide a general right for long-term residents not born on its territory to acquire nationality. Nonetheless, there is a gradual strengthening of the principle that naturalisation should be at least made possible, and in particular that naturalisation should be facilitated for stateless persons (as provided in the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons). State succession The transfer of sovereignty over a territory—known as succession of states in international law—is a frequent dangerpoint for the creation of stateless populations. Extensive guidance on the rules that should be applied is provided by Draft Articles on Nationality of Natural Persons in relation to the Succession of states, adopted by the International Law Commission in 1999. The European Convention on Statelessness in the Context of State Succession, and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights relating to the Right to a Nationality and the Eradication of Statelessness in Africa adopted in 2024 also provide normative frameworks that can help to shape litigation and remedies requested at national level. Birth registration and legal identity The right to birth registration for all children is well-established in international human rights law and has been repeatedly confirmed by international and regional treaty bodies and courts. Registration and recognition of other civil status events and legal identity more generally, including issue of necessary identity documents, does not have such an explicit foundation in the treaties. However, there is significant jurisprudence holding that registration and recognition of legal identity is a component of the right to dignity in the human rights treaties: the Guide provides examples of such cases before different courts and treaty bodies. Litigation is challenging aspects of new biometric identification systems in relation not only to data protection and privacy but also the potential discriminatory impacts of such systems. Consequential violations Statelessness or the arbitrary denial or deprivation of nationality often leads to violations of other human rights. The Guide provides examples of judgments and other sources of law in relation to freedom of movement and the right to enter and remain in one’s “own country”; the right to participation in public affairs; the right to family life; the right to remedies in the context of immigration detention and the impacts of precarious legal status in a country; and on the role of statelessness and lack of identity documents in accessing rights that may be restricted to nationals of a country, such as housing or health care. The choice to focus on these “consequential” violations, or on the lack of recognized nationality from which they arise, depends on the facts of the case and the legal arguments available in the specific forum, and should be a key element in strategy discussions for framing litigation. U N H C R | L I T I G AT I N G T H E R I G H T T O A N AT I O N A L I T Y: A G U I D E F O R P R AC T I T I O N E R S 11