Chapter 1. Introduction A closer look is taken next at how someone becomes a citizen of a country: the acquisition of nationality.48 The two main principles based on which nationality is attributed are jus sanguinis and jus soli. Jus sanguinis means ‘law of the blood’, which articulates that nationality is acquired by descent: the nationality of a country is attributed to a child when one or both parents are a national of the state concerned. Jus soli can be translated as ‘law of the soil’, meaning that the nationality that is acquired at birth is based upon the place – country – of birth. Most laws and policies on the attribution of nationality at birth can be linked to either or both of these principles. In Europe, there is a tendency towards using the jus sanguinis-principle as the main principle for nationality attribution.49 Nationality is often viewed as something that is passed from parent(s) to child(ren). It has been held that this has a historical background, influenced by Christianity even, as “the family, instead of the individual, seems to have been the unit, and that the aggregation of such units formed the group or society which we may, for present purposes, call the state; and that the family, as well as the groups of families forming the society, status, or state, was one of blood relationship”.50 The jus sanguinis-principle is visible in a number of European legal instruments, as well as in national laws. For children of stateless people in Europe, that would however mean that they could remain stateless if (a) parent(s) is unable to pass nationality on to the child(ren). Yet, also jus soli-elements can be found in current nationality laws in Europe. It thus appears that European states are indeed aware of the need for using both principles for attributing nationality. However, and as can be seen in chapter 2, the large number of stateless people in Europe demonstrates that this has not really solved the problem. At the same time, there remains a factor of coincidence in relation to acquisition of nationality, as an individual cannot decide about his or her place of birth, nor choose his or her parents – important facts in relation to the possibility to acquire a nationality. Hence, the acquisition of citizenship, and thereby political membership, has been termed the ‘birthright lottery’.51 A last principle, important to the acquisition of nationality at a later point in life through naturalization, is that of jus domicilii. It means ‘law of residence’ and is the 48 49 50 51 See also Laura van Waas, Nationality Matters. Statelessness under International Law (School of Human Rights Research Series vol 29, Intersentia 2008) 32–33 and Alice Edwards, ‘The Meaning of Nationality in International Law in an Era of Human Rights: Procedural and Substantive Aspects’ in Alice Edwards & Laura van Waas (eds), Nationality and Statelessness under International Law (Cambridge University Press 2014) 16–21. Cf Caia Vlieks and Katja Swider, ‘The Jus Sanguinis Bias of Europe and What It Means for Childhood Statelessness’ (ENS Blog, 17 June 2015) < www.statelessness.eu/blog/jus-sanguinis-bias-europe-andwhat-it-means-childhood-statelessness> accessed 22 August 2021. James Brown Scott, ‘Nationality: Jus Soli or Jus Sanguinis’ (1930) 24 The American Journal of International Law 58, 60. Ayelet Shachar, The Birthright Lottery. Citizenship and Global Inequality (Harvard University Press 2009). Intersentia 17