CChapter 3: Comparative analysis of nationality laws 3.4.2. Procedural questions Having deconstructed and compared the substance of MENA’s nationality laws, it is of interest to look at some of the procedural features of this legislation. Perhaps the most immediate procedural question is to what extent a right of appeal is recognised where an individual is negatively affected by a decision relating to his or her nationality. For example, if the state uses its powers of deprivation to strip someone of their nationality, does the person in question have the opportunity to challenge that decision? Access to an effective remedy is of critical importance, as evidenced by some of the jurisprudence emerging in the region.180 Yet just six countries in the MENA region guarantee a right to appeal against decisions relating to the enjoyment of nationality: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia. It should be noted that none of the GCC countries are among those that permit such an appeal. As such, there is no system of checks and balances in these states that will help to prevent the authorities from stepping beyond their powers or rendering a decision arbitrarily. This is in spite of some examples of provisions that appear to be geared towards 180 - See, for instance, the analysis of case law relating to nationality in Lebanon in Frontiers Ruwad Association, Invisible Citizens: Humiliation and a life in the shadows. A legal and policy study on statelessness in Lebanon, 2011. 137