1. An offence against national security or a sentence to imprisonment for a term of five years or more on a criminal charge with regard to any person born on its territory (Article 1, Point 2(c); 2. An offence against national security with regard to any person not born on its territory (Article 4, Point 2(c)). The Law On Citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic does not make such a distinction and in Article 16 it allows for eight grounds for refusing to grant citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic. One of these is conviction and imprisonment for committing a crime which qualifies in the Kyrgyz Republic as serious or very serious. Articles 12 and 13 of the Criminal Code of the Kyrgyz Republic state that serious crimes are intentional acts for which the law makes provision for imprisonment for terms of more than ten years or life imprisonment. The main criterion in this case is the degree of punishment. In the Convention’s norm, the issue is not just of degree of punishment, but also the concrete type of crime committed and the place of birth of the individual. With regard to individuals not born on the territory of the Contracting Party, it is enough to not have a conviction for committing a crime against national security. But under the Law On Citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic they fall into a general category of people dependent on the gravity of the punishment, and not of people who have committed a specific type of crime, as is foreseen in the 1961 Convention. They are thus limited in their right to acquire citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic. Based on reasoned consideration of the provisions of the Convention, in our opinion, if the Kyrgyz Republic accedes to the 1961 Convention, legislation will need to respect the criteria for granting citizenship allowed under the Convention. In practice, naturalisation can be distinguished between family and non-family acquisition of citizenship. The non-family procedure is the ordinary (usual) procedure for acquiring citizenship. The family procedure regulates acquisition of citizenship on marriage, adoption, recognition or legitimation. In this context, the Law On Citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic, in our opinion, goes further than what is required under the Convention. In particular, Articles 17, 18, 19 and 20 of the Law On Citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic also provide for situations of acquiring and preserving citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic for adopted children, or those in foster or guardian care, who can acquire citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic through one of their parents on the same principles as through birth. The Law On Citizenship of the Kyrgyz Republic and inter-governmental agreements of which the Kyrgyz Republic is a party also contain norms concerning restoration of citizenship, and acquisition of citizenship through simplified procedures designed to reduce incidence of statelessness. 2.2.2 Renunciation of nationality, loss and deprivation of nationality The legal frameworks of many states contain a number of ways of ending nationality. These include renunciation of nationality; withdrawal of nationality; deprivation of nationality; and ending nationality on the grounds of international agreements. The 1961 Convention envisages ways to end nationality such as “loss of nationality” (Articles 5 and 6), “renunciation of nationality” (Article 7), and “deprivation of nationality” (Articles 8 and 9). In Article 4, Paragraph 1, point (b) the possibility of granting of nationality as a result of an application being lodged by or on behalf of the person concerned is envisaged. The same procedure is also possible for renunciation of nationality. Renunciation of nationality takes place by application lodged by or on behalf of the person concerned of his/her own free will – that is, the application for renunciation of nationality is made directly by the citizen. However, such a renunciation should not result in loss of nationality unless the perSmall Changes ‫ ـ‬Big Gains: An Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic 30