1. MAKING EFFECTIVE USE OF UN HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
TO SOLVE STATELESSNESS
The small number of recommendations on naturalisation makes it hard
to be certain, but there may be a trend towards stronger wording of
these recommendations. For instance, in 2012 the Committee on Racial
Discrimination made recommendations made recommendations that
States “consider naturalising”,74 “take measures to facilitate access to
citizenship”,75 and take measures to address statelessness,76 whereas
in 2014 Estonia received a recommendation to ease naturalisation
requirements.77 This recommendation is particularly significant
because it deals directly with the details of the language requirements
for naturalisation, in contrast to previous recommendations which
referred more generally to measures to facilitate naturalisation.78
3.2 Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
against Women (Committee on Discrimination against Women)
Article 9 of CEDAW provides that:
1. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to
acquire, change or retain their nationality. They shall ensure
in particular that neither marriage to an alien nor change of
nationality by the husband during marriage shall automatically
change the nationality of the wife, render her stateless or force
upon her the nationality of the husband.
2. States Parties shall grant women equal rights with men with
respect to the nationality of their children.
74
75
76
77
78
reports of the Dominican Republic, 19 April 2013, CERD/C/DOM/CO/13-14,
para. 20. Other recommendations to respect non-discrimination in nationality
laws include, CERD, Concluding observations on the seventeenth to twentysecond periodic reports of Cyprus, 23 September 2013, CERD/C/CYP/CO/1722, para. 18; and CERD, Concluding observations: Sudan, supra n67, para. 19.
CERD, Concluding observations: Kuwait, supra n68, para. 17.
CERD, Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination: Italy, 4 April 2012, CERD/C/ITA/CO/16-18, para. 24.
CERD, Concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination: Turkmenistan, 13 April 2012, CERD/C/TKM/CO/6-7, para. 17.
CERD, Concluding observations on the combined tenth and eleventh periodic
reports of Estonia, 22 September 2014, CERD/C/EST/CO/10-11, para. 11 “(b)
Lessen the language requirements for naturalization, in particular for older
persons; (c) Ease further the naturalization requirements for persons under
15 years of age”.
On facilitated naturalisation see also, T. Molnár, “A fresh examination of facilitated
naturalisation as a solution for stateless persons”, chapter 8 in this book.
38