Conflict of Nationality Laws, the general principles embodied in the Convention have been substantively incorporated into nationality legislation and practice in many States, including Japan.65 (4) Statelessness in International Human Rights Discourse Since the Hague Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws, the trend in international law has increasingly leaned towards the reduction of statelessness. In this context, the problem of nationality not only concerns interstate relations but also human rights. In 1984, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights clearly expressed this view in its advisory opinion on whether Amendments to the Naturalization Provisions of the Constitution of Costa Rica was compatible with the Inter-American Convention.66 Nationality is an inherent right of all human beings. Not only is nationality the basic requirement for the exercise of political rights, it also has an important bearing on the individual's legal capacity. Thus, despite the fact that it is traditionally accepted that the conferral and regulation of nationality are matters for each state to decide, contemporary developments indicate that international law does impose certain limits on the broad powers enjoyed by the states in that area, and that the manner in which states regulate matters bearing on nationality cannot today be deemed within their sole jurisdiction; those powers of the state are also circumscribed by their obligations to ensure the full protection of human rights. The classical doctrinal position, which viewed nationality as an attribute granted by the state to its subjects, has gradually evolved to the point that nationality is today perceived as involving the jurisdiction of the state as well as human rights issues. The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights served as the starting point for this development in international law. Article 15 declares, “Everyone has the right to a nationality.” It also calls attention the plight of the Jews, adding, “[n]o one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” Most human rights agreements hereafter have provisions that refer to nationality as a right. 65 Information and Accession Package, supra note 17, para. 32. Inter-American Court of Human Rights, Re Amendment to the Naturalization Provisions of the Constitution of Costa Rica, Advisory Opinion of 19 January 1984, OC-4/84, paras. 32-35. 66 27