by the reference in the Government Bill on the Act on Swedish Citizenship.43 However, it is noteworthy that the Government Bill on the Act on Swedish Citizenship, which provides important guidance on the interpretation and application of the provisions in the Act, does not contain any references to either the 1954 or the 1961 Convention, despite Sweden having been party to these conventions since 1965 and 1969, respectively. The new Act, for the first time, contained specific provisions for facilitating access to Swedish nationality for stateless children in Sweden, as will be explained in Section 4.3 below. Another important change concerned the conferral of Swedish nationality on their children by Swedish men. The Act abolished the requirement of the parents to be married in order for a father to confer his Swedish nationality on his child. Instead, the Act provides for the automatic acquisition of Swedish nationality by children born to Swedish men in Sweden, regardless of whether the father is married to the mother or not, and for acquisition through application in respect of a child born abroad to a Swedish man who is not married to the mother of the child. A major amendment was introduced in the Swedish nationality legislation in 2006,44 when decisions made in accordance with the 2001 Act on Swedish Citizenship, as well as those made in accordance with the Aliens Act, became subject to judicial review. Since then, decisions can be appealed to the special Migration Courts and further to the Migration Appeal Court. On 1 April 2015, further amendments to the Act on Swedish Citizenship entered into force. In its proposal to Parliament titled The Swedish Citizenship,45 the Government argued that Swedish citizenship is a basis for Swedish democracy and represents a significant bond between the citizen and the State of Sweden. As such, the Government further held that citizenship is the most important legal relationship between the citizen and the State and shall be used as an incentive to promote integration in Sweden. The amendments consequently contain a preamble, which states that Swedish citizenship stands for belonging and ties with Sweden, and that citizenship consists of rights as well as responsibilities. Also, the amendments provide that a child born to one Swedish parent should always acquire Swedish citizenship automatically at birth, regardless of whether the child is born in Sweden or abroad, and further facilitate the acquisition of Swedish citizenship for stateless persons, including for children born in Sweden who would otherwise be stateless. In the Government’s proposal on The Swedish Citizenship, as well as in the subsequent Government Bill titled A Citizenship Based on Affinity,46 reference was made to the 1961 Convention, which shows that there was more awareness about Sweden’s legal obligations under this Conventions in 2013-2014 than there was in 2000, when the Government Bill on the Act on Swedish Citizenship was published. 2.1.2 National legal framework Sweden has a dualistic legal system and therefore, international treaties do not automatically become part of the Swedish legal system. International conventions have to become part of Swedish legislation in order for their provisions to be applicable for national authorities and courts. This can be done through incorporation or through transformation. Incorporation means that a Swedish law stipulates that a convention shall apply as Swedish law. So far, only the ECHR has been incorporated into Swedish law,47 through there is a 16 43 Regeringens proposition, (1999/2000: 147), Lag om svenskt medborgarskap, 8 June 2000, p. 16, available at: http://goo.gl/0rvK2m. 44 Amendment to the Act on Swedish Citizenship, Lag (2005: 722) om ändring i lagen om svenskt (2001: 82) om svenskt medborgarskap. The substantial changes were made through the Aliens Act (Utlänningslag, (2005: 716)) in which Chapters 14 and 16 contain provisions on the appeal to the Migration Courts and to the Migration Appeal Court. 45 Det svenska medborgarskapet, Betänkande av Medborgarskapsutredningen, SOU 2013: 29, available at: http://goo.gl/gPdSjH. 46 Regeringens Proposition (2013/14: 143) Ett medborgarskap som grundas på samhörighet, available at: https://goo.gl/DXVZyS. 47 Lag (1994: 1219) om den europeiska konventionen angående skydd för de mänskliga rättigheterna och de grundläggande friheterna. The incorporation of the ECHR in Swedish legislation was done concurrently with other legislative amendments to one of the constitutional laws of Sweden. The Government expressed that the purpose of the incorporation of the European Convention would be to strengthen the legal protection of individuals in Sweden; see Regeringens Proposition (1993/94: 117), Inkorporering av Europakonventionen och andra fri och rättighetsfrågor. M A P P I N G S TAT E L E S S N E S S I N S W E D E N