In this 14-page legal briefing (17 pages in Burmese), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) identifies key provisions of international law and national law related to citizenship in Myanmar, and assesses these in relation to rule of law principles and international human rights law. This assessment, primarily focused on the 2008 Constitution and the 1982 Citizenship Law, informs recommendations on how the Government can ensure laws comply with international human rights law and rule of law principles. This paper does not add to the extensive existing documentation of people’s experiences under these laws; 7 instead, the ICJ analyses how the legal framework itself constitutes and contributes to violations of human rights, and why it can and should be reformed. The Government of Myanmar could pursue a number of key opportunities and take meaningful and tangible steps now to align the country’s citizenship legal framework and its application with rule of law principles and the State’s international human rights law obligations, including: 1. Legislative reform to laws related to citizenship in Myanmar: a. Promptly initiate a review of the 1982 Law, as recommended in 2017 by the Government’s own Commission chaired by the late United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan;8 b. Develop a new citizenship law to replace the 1982 law and its bylaws, in order to conform to rule of law and democratic principles, including of non-discrimination, and to implement the State’s obligations under international human rights law, particularly under treaties binding upon Myanmar, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (the CRC). Any new law needs to be developed inline with international best practice, and to ensure consistency with constitutional protections, including equality and equal protection before the law (section 347) and the right to due process (section 381). c. Review and revise the draft Child Rights Bill, currently under consideration by the Union Parliament and the Union President, to ensure full compliance with its stated objective of implementing the CRC, particularly the right of a child to acquire a nationality, and the State’s obligation to avoid statelessness, in article 7 of the CRC, thereby enabling the reduction of statelessness and the acquisition of Myanmar citizenship for children. 2. Constitutional reform, through opportunities arising from the establishment of a Constitutional Amendment Committee early this year,9 specifically to: a. Expand the narrow definition of “fundamental rights” to constitutionally protect the rights of all persons in Myanmar, without discrimination (with limited exceptions restricted to specific political rights). To give this effect in line with section 347 of the Constitution, the term “citizens” should be replaced with “any persons,” at least in the following constitutional provisions: sections 21 (right to equality, liberty and justice); 34 (freedom of religion or belief); 348 (nondiscrimination), 349 (equal opportunity); 354 and its subsections (freedom of assembly, expression and association); 356 (property); 357 (privacy); 366 (education); 357 (health); 370 (livelihoods). None of these amendments overrides the Government’s authority to enforce existing related legislation, and adopt further legislative provisions as it sees fit, for so long as they align with the Constitution, and international human rights law obligations binding on the country. b. Protect the rights of all citizens to fully participate in democratic processes, in line with international law, by amending the following constitutional provisions which place restrictions on those with a family member who is not a citizen: section 59(f); 120(b) and 152(b). 3. By instituting interim measures to address discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity, including: a. By instructing the relevant authorities to: (i) accept and duly process citizenship applications by any person, inline with a non-arbitrary and non-discriminatory application of section 6 of the 1982 Citizenship 3