State succession Provision 1. In situations of State succession, persons whose habitual residence is in the successor State acquire the nationality of the successor State on the date of such succession, unless or until they choose otherwise. Comments State succession, as defined by the Vienna Convention on Succession of States in Respect of Treaties, and as followed by all legislative efforts since that time is “the replacement of one State by another in the responsibility for the international relations of territory”72 . State succession, which can take the form of the emergence of new States or the transfer of territory between existing States, can lead to statelessness if no proper safeguards are in place. When one State ceases to exist, and is replaced by another, the individuals who held the nationality of the predecessor State are at risk of losing their nationality and being left stateless as a result of not being able to acquire the nationality of a successor state. Avoidance of statelessness in such cases is essential to promoting social inclusion and stability. International regulation in the area of State succession has attempted to balance the often-competing principles of the right to a nationality, the right of individual choice, and the criterion of a genuine or effective link to the territory in question.73 The international instruments in the area of State succession provide important guidance as to the minimum standards which must be followed by States in the area of nationality. Read together, they contain a strong requirement of both predecessor and successor States to prevent the loss of nationality by any individual who might be affected by State succession. The 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness contains provisions which serve as a general outline of the obligations of States in the circumstance of State succession. Article 10 stipulates that “any treaty which provides for the transfer of territory shall include provisions designed to secure that no person shall become stateless as a result of the transfer” of territory. The primary method of ensuring that all individuals are able to 33