Report on Citizenship Law: Mozambique be to add a paragraph 4 to Article 23 with the same text as Article 24 (4) and to eliminate Article 25 altogether. While a positive action is required from the interested party, state authorities have no discretion in the attribution of Mozambican citizenship under Article 23 (3) of the Constitution. The declaration of the wish to be Mozambican is made before any Civil Registry official and is added to the interested party’s birth registration, per Article 7 of the Nationality Regulation. Applying, with the necessary adaptations, the provisions in the Nationality Act and the Nationality Regulation concerning the attribution of citizenship on the basis of birth abroad to a Mozambican citizen, it is possible to conclude that the declaration of the wish to be Mozambican must include the interested party’s full name, age, civil status, profession, place of birth, residence and current citizenship; the full name, civil status, place of birth and residence of the interested party’s parents; and the purpose of the declaration; and be accompanied by the birth registration certificate of the interested party and of his or her parents [Articles 11 and 21 (1) and (5) of the Nationality Regulation]. If the child is an orphan awaiting a judicial decision on tutelage or adoption, the Social Services are competent to make the declaration of the wish to be Mozambican on behalf of the child [Article 11 (2) of the Nationality Regulation]. The registration of the attribution under Article 23 (3) of the Constitution is mandatory and proof of citizenship is made by means of a citizenship certificate or of a birth registration certificate which mentions the attribution of citizenship [Articles 2 (2) and 3 (1) of the Nationality Regulation]. Attribution based on birth in Mozambique after independence, with diplomatic exception: Article 24 (1) and (2) of the Constitution recognises as Mozambican citizens by birth all individuals born in Mozambique81 since independence, with the exception of those born to foreign parents if any of the parents was/is in Mozambique in the service of his or her country. For the exception to apply, both parents have to be foreigner and at least one of them must be in Mozambique in the service of his or her country at the time of birth, even if the residence in Mozambique started for reasons other than the service to a foreign country. The diplomatic exception in Article 24 (2) reflects a general principle of international law according to which states should not impose their citizenship on the children of foreign diplomats born in their territory. Since 2004, the exception is no longer as strong as before,82 since Article 24 (3) allows children born in Mozambique to foreign parents in the service of their country to obtain Mozambican citizenship by origin sufficing that they declare their wish to be Mozambican after they turn 18, whereas under the 1975 Act and the 1990 Constitution this possibility was reserved for those born in Mozambique to foreign parents not in the service of their country. As noted earlier a propos Article 23 (2), the term ‘service’ is to be interpreted broadly, to cover not only diplomatic and consular functions, but also other official missions. This much is made clear by the provisions in the Nationality Regulation which apply to cases that 81 Taking the example of Brazil, another Lusophone country with a strong ius soli tradition, it can be said that the reference to Mozambique as place of birth covers not only what is materially located within Mozambican borders, but also Mozambican territorial waters, Mozambican military aircraft and ships wherever they may be found, and Mozambican commercial aircraft and ships if the birth occurs at high sea (Jerónimo 2016: 19). 82 Until 2004, the children born in Mozambique to foreign parents in the service of their country were not entitled to obtain Mozambican citizenship by declaring their wish to be Mozambican. That much can be deduced from the provision in the Nationality Regulation which required that the declaration of the wish to be Mozambican by children of foreign parents expressly mentioned that none of the parents was in Mozambique in the service of their country at the time of birth [Article 8 (1) of the Nationality Regulation]. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2019/6 - © 2019 Author 29