Chapter 2 The Right to Nationality and Judgment TC/0168/13 of the Constitutional Court | 79 application on the grounds that the registration of her birth at the Yamasá Municipal Documentation Center was irregular as she was the daughter of Haitian nationals “who have illegally and irregularly had their children’s births registered in vital records, in flagrant violation of the Constitution in force at the time.”174 According to the data shown in the record of Mrs. Deguis’ birth, her father and mother had documents identifying them as workers of Haitian nationality. 175 171. When the authorities refused to issue her documents, Juliana Deguis filed a petition against the Central Electoral Board seeking constitutional relief. Her petition was filed with the Civil and Commercial Chamber of the Court of First Instance of the Monte Plata Judicial District, and it alleged that her human rights were being violated. She was petitioning the court to order that her birth certificate be returned and her identity card issued. 176 In a July 10, 2012 ruling, the court denied the petition seeking constitutional relief on the grounds that Juliana Deguis had been unable to prove her allegations since she had not introduced her original birth certificate; the court ignored the fact that the original birth certificate had been retained by the State itself at its own Documentation Center when she went there to apply for her identity and voter registration card. 177 172. Mrs. Deguis then filed a petition for review of the decision on her petition for constitutional relief. The case finally made its way to the Constitutional Court. When it took up Mrs. Deguis Pierre’s case, the Constitutional Court maintained that under domestic and international law, the Dominican Republic has the authority to determine who its citizens are. 178 Elaborating, it wrote that Dominican nationality is acquired: a) through consanguinity or jus sanguinis; b) through place of birth or jus soli, and c) through naturalization. One of the exceptions to the generic rule for applying jus soli is the category of foreigners in transit. 173. When it examined the category of foreigners in transit, the Constitutional Court maintained that this category is regulated in all the Dominican constitutions subsequent to 1929, including the 1966 Constitution in force at the time Mrs. Deguis’ birth was registered. Article 11(1) of the 1966 Constitution provided that Dominican nationality could be acquired by any person born on the territory of the Republic, with the exception of the legitimate children of foreign residents in the country as diplomatic representatives or foreigners in transit. It also observed that with the 2010 Constitution, the category of “foreigners in transit” was expanded by adding a 174 175 176 177 178 178 Dominican Republic, Constitutional Court, Judgment TC/0168/13. September 23, 2013, pp. 6 and 15. Dominican Republic, Constitutional Court, Judgment TC/0168/13. September 23, 2013, p. 54. Dominican Republic, Constitutional Court, Judgment TC/0168/13. September 23, 2013, pp. 2-4. Dominican Republic, Constitutional Court, Judgment TC/0168/13. September 23, 2013, pp. 20-21. As the basis for this power at the national level, the Constitutional Court points to the immigration-related authorities given to the National Congress (Article 37(9) of the Constitution), and to the Office of the Director General of Immigration (Article 2 of the 1939 Immigration Law). At the international level, it cites the following precedents: Advisory Opinion on the Nationality Decrees Issued in Tunis and Morocco, Permanent Court of International Justice (1923); the Nottebohm Case of the International Court of Justice (1955); Advisory Opinion on the Proposed Amendment to the Political Constitution of Costa Rica and the Castillo Petruzzi Case of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (1984 and 1999), and various cases decided by the Court of Justice of the European Communities.. Dominican Republic, Constitutional Court, Judgment TC/0168/13. September 23, 2013. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR