registered in the State.229 The extension of the territory of a Contracting State to ships flying the flag of that State and to aircraft registered in that State also applies when ships are within the territorial waters or a harbour of another State or to aircraft at an airport of another State.230 The Swedish law is silent on whether birth on a ship or aircraft is considered as birth on Swedish territory. The Swedish authorities have not confirmed whether birth on a ship or aircraft is considered as birth on Swedish territory as per established practice. It would therefore be important to look into this issue, in order to assess whether Swedish legislation and practice is compliant with Article 3 of the 1961 Convention. 4.3.2 Avoidance of statelessness in the context of renunciation, loss or deprivation of nationality Article 5(1) of the 1961 Convention provides “If the law of a Contracting State entails loss of nationality as a consequence of any change in the personal status of a person such as marriage, termination of marriage, legitimation, recognition or adoption, such loss shall be conditional upon possession or acquisition of another nationality.” Article 6 of the 1961 Convention reads in its entirety: “If the law of a Contracting State provides for loss of its nationality by a person’s spouse or children as a consequence of that person losing or being deprived of that nationality, such loss shall be conditional upon their possession or acquisition of another nationality.” Put simply, Article 6 disallows a State Party from punishing a spouse or child for the other spouse/parent’s loss of nationality. Article 8 of the 1961 Convention governs deprivation of nationality. Article 8(1) provides, “A Contracting State shall not deprive a person of its nationality if such deprivation would render him stateless.” Articles 8(2) through 8(4) contain certain enumerated exceptions, as well as important procedural safeguards. The Instrument of Government of 1974 provides in Chapter 2, Section 7 that “no Swedish citizen who is domiciled in the Realm or who has previously been domiciled in the Realm may be deprived of his or her citizenship.”231 Nonetheless, a person can under certain restrictive conditions be deprived of his or her Swedish nationality, pursuant to Section 14 of the Act on Swedish Citizenship. Namely, a Swedish citizen will lose their citizenship when they turn 22 years if they have been born abroad, never been domiciled in Sweden, and not been in Sweden under circumstances which indicate ties with the country. Such a person can nevertheless submit an application to the SMA, before turning 22 years, to retain his or her Swedish nationality. The purpose of the provision is to prevent persons residing outside of Sweden from being able to retain their Swedish nationality for generations, despite having lost their links to the country. Children who have acquired their Swedish citizenship from a person who is being deprived of their Swedish citizenship pursuant to Section 14 will also be deprived of their citizenship, unless they also acquired Swedish nationality from the other parent who retains his or her Swedish nationality. Importantly, Section 14 contains a clause protecting against statelessness in the case of deprivation; the clause states that deprivation of Swedish citizenship shall not take place if it would lead to statelessness. The fact that Swedish nationality cannot be lost in any other situation was confirmed in a decision by the Supreme Administrative Court in 2006.232 A child had acquired Swedish nationality from his Swedish father to whom his mother, a citizen of the United Kingdom, was married. The child was born in 1984, the parents 229 Ibid., para. 62. 230 Ibid., para. 63. See also UNHCR, Dakar Conclusions, paras. 48-49. 231 The same article provides that “It may however be prescribed that children under the age of eighteen shall have the same nationality as their parents or as one parent.” See English text of Instrument of Government, at: http://goo.gl/cY14ir. 232 Högsta Förvaltningsdomstolen, previously Regeringsrätten, 6419-04, 8 November 2006. UNHCR STOCKHOLM, 2016 67