Homegrown Statelessness in Malaysia
became a citizen of Liechtenstein in 1939. 24 Nottebohm was, however, a longterm resident of Guatemala and had few ties to Liechtenstein. 25 Guatemala
challenged the admissibility of Liechtenstein’s claim on the ground that
Nottebohm’s naturalisation to Liechtenstein was defective. 26 The International
Court of Justice (‘ICJ’) agreed with Nottebohm and Guatemala, peering behind
the veil of naturalisation to find that his citizenship with Liechtenstein was not
‘real and effective’. 27 The ICJ noted, ‘nationality is a legal bond having as its
basis a social fact of attachment, a genuine connection of existence, interests and
sentiments, together with the existence of reciprocal rights and duties’. 28
Since the Nottebohm Case, there have been a series of international law cases
dealing with dual nationals that have adopted this ‘dominant and effective’ test
espousing the examination of relevant factors such as ‘habitual residence, center
of interests, family ties, participation in public life and other evidence of
attachment’. 29 As Charles Brower and Jason Brueschke suggest, the increasing
number of cases in which tribunals have turned to the dominant and effective
nationality test (albeit in the context of dual nationals) ‘certainly represent a
large source of precedent on the subject, which should serve as useful examples
in other contexts’. 30 The Nottebohm Case
is seen as authority for the position that there should be an ‘effective’ or ‘genuine’
link between the individual and the State of nationality, not only in the case of
dual or plural nationality (where such a requirement is generally accepted), but
also where the national possesses only one nationality. 31
C
The Context of Malaysia: A Thin Human Rights Regime
Malaysia is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 32 and the
Convention on the Rights of the Child, both of which provide rights to
citizenship. 33 However, Malaysia is not a party to the 1954 Statelessness
Convention or the 1961 Statelessness Convention, 34 the Refugee Convention, 35
the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination, 36 the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(‘ICCPR’), 37 the Convention against Torture; 38 among others. In response to
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
ibid.
ibid.
ibid 16.
ibid 22–25.
ibid 23.
Case No A/18 (1984) 75 ILR 176, 173 [5] (Iran–United States Claims Tribunal); ‘Claims of
Dual Nationals in the Modern Era: The Iran–United States Claims Tribunal’ (1984) 83(3)
Michigan Law Review 597, 601; Abraham Kannoff, ‘Dueling Nationalities: Dual
Citizenship, Dominant and Effective Nationality, and the Case of Anwar Al-Aulaqi’ (2011)
25(3) Emory Law Review 1372, 1390–1.
Charles N Brower and Jason D Brueschke, The Iran–United States Claims Tribunal
(Martinus Nijhoff 1998) 321.
John R Dugard, Special Rapporteur, First Report on Diplomatic Protection, UN Doc,
A/CN.4/506 (7 March 2000 and 20 April 2000) 228 [106].
UDHR (n 20).
CRC (n 20).
1954 Statelessness Convention (n 11); 1961 Statelessness Convention (n 19).
Refugee Convention (n 12).
CERD (n 20).
ICCPR (n 20).
101