Chapter 2 The Right to Nationality and Judgment TC/0168/13 of the Constitutional Court | 121
significantly with the 1987 Constitution. In addition to the criteria on the acquisition
and loss of nationality, the 1987 Constitution for the first time introduced a
prohibition banning dual citizenship. The precise text of the pertinent provisions
appears below:
Article 11:
Any person born of a Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves
native-born Haitians and have never renounced their nationality possesses
Haitian nationality by birth.
[...]
Article 13:
Haitian nationality is lost by:
a. Naturalization in a foreign country;
b. Holding a political post in the service of a foreign country;
c. Continuous residency abroad of a naturalized Haitian without being given
proper authorization by a competent official. Anyone who loses his nationality
in this manner shall not recover it.
[...]
Article 15:
Dual Haitian and foreign nationality is not permitted.
284. Article 11 of the 1987 Haitian Constitution provides that “[a]ny person born of a
Haitian father or Haitian mother who are themselves native-born Haitians and have
never renounced their nationality possesses Haitian nationality by birth.” In this
regard the Commission observes that several generations of Dominicans of Haitian
descent cannot opt for Haitian nationality because they are not direct descendants of
Haitian nationals as required under the Haitian Constitution. Many of the persons
affected by the judgment are children of a second generation of Dominicans of
Haitian descent who have been denied their right to Dominican nationality on the
grounds that they are the children of foreigners in an irregular migratory situation.
This has meant that the children of these individuals have been unable to acquire
their Dominican nationality and have encountered a variety of obstacles when
attempting to register their births, obstacles that have also stood in the way of their
descendants’ effective enjoyment of their rights to nationality, juridical personality,
and identity.
285. Under the Haitian Constitution, the prohibition of dual nationality denied Haitian
nationality to persons who have acquired a foreign nationality, which included those
persons born outside of Haiti who automatically acquired the nationality of their
country of birth. Because of this prohibition, persons affected by judgment
TC/0168/13, who were regarded as Dominican nationals until the judgment was
handed down, are now unable to claim Haitian nationality.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR
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