of this policy both within their borders and, abroad, through their consular services.
•
More recent instruments, such as the ECN, do not allow States to deprive a person
of their nationality on the grounds that the individual habitually resides abroad if the
individual concerned would thereby become stateless.
Causes linked to state succession
Transfer of territory or sovereignty
Although it is only partially addressed in specific international instruments and principles,
the transfer of territory or of sovereignty has long been a cause of statelessness.
National laws and practices will inevitably be altered when a State undergoes profound
territorial changes or changes in sovereignty, such as when a State wins independence
from a colonial power, after a State is dissolved, if a new State or States succeed(s)
a dissolved State, or if part of a State separates to form a new State. Any of these
events can trigger the adoption of new citizenship laws or decrees and/or new
administrative procedures. Individuals may become stateless in these situations if they
fail to acquire nationality under the new legislation/decrees or under new administrative
procedures, or if they are denied nationality because of a reinterpretation of previously
applicable laws and practices.
To avoid these problems:
•
Article 10 of the 1961 Convention stipulates that States Parties should ensure that
statelessness does not occur as a result of transfer of territory. States should sign
bilateral or multilateral treaties that include provisions to ensure that statelessness
does not occur as a result of such a transfer. Where no treaty is signed, the
State(s) concerned should grant nationality to those who would otherwise be
stateless.
•
In practice, populations are generally linked with territories; however, some
international treaties, constitutional provisions, and nationality legislation also offer
the choice of nationality from among the successor States.
•
Succession treaties may also incorporate provisions that focus on how the
dissolution or separation of States may affect nationality.
•
Responding to the need to codify and develop international law concerning
nationality in relation to State succession, the ILC of the United Nations prepared
articles on the subject that are contained in the Annex to UN General Assembly
Resolution 55/153 of 2001. The articles stipulate that:
–– all States concerned should take appropriate measures so that persons who,
on the date of the succession of States, had the nationality of the predecessor
state do not become stateless as a result of the succession;
–– a person whose habitual residence was located in the territory affected by the
succession is presumed to acquire the nationality of the successor State on the
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