DISCRIMINATION Nationality laws which exclude the possibility of the mother passing the nationality to her child, if the child is unable to acquire nationality from the father, directly discriminate against women and are a profound cause of statelessness. Additionally, large groups of persons have been stripped of their nationality due to their distinct religious, ethnic or racial origin. Statelessness becomes a defining characteristic of such groups and is inherited by the following generations. CONFLICT BETWEEN NATIONALITY LAWS Conflict between nationality laws pertains to the principle of jus soli and jus sanguinis,13 where the combination of place of birth (jus soli) and descent (jus sanguinis) in individual circumstances does not lead to the acquisition of nationality. This can happen in the case of a child born outside of the parents’ country of origin, on the territory where jus soli is not in force and the parents cannot transfer nationality by descent (jus sanguinis) since this is not permitted by the law of their country of origin. Jus soli is the predominant principle applied in the Americas, and, whilst not immune from imperfections as it may also contain legal gaps, it is considered an effective way to tackle statelessness.14 OTHER LEGAL GAPS Legislation may contain provisions which in certain circumstances lead to statelessness, for example, the absence of an obligation to obtain new nationality before the renunciation of the old one or the non-binding nature of a citizenship promise as a pre-requisite to renounce the previous citizenship. ARBITRARY DEPRIVATION OF NATIONALITY The question of deprivation of nationality, understood in a broad sense as the involuntary withdrawal of nationality by the state (irrespective of the will of the person concerned), rests in the sphere of the domestic jurisdiction. However, it is restricted by international human rights law, which prohibits arbitrary deprivation of nationality. The notion of arbitrariness relates, in general, to standards of justice and due process. For the deprivation of nationality not to be arbitrary it must be in conformity with domestic law, comply with procedural standards, adhere to the principle of proportionality and it cannot be based on discriminatory or forbidden grounds.15 Since the right to a nationality and the avoidance of statelessness is a general principle of international law, it is also acknowledged that deprivation of nationality leading to statelessness would, in principle, be 12 13 As explained in the UNHCR’s Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, “jus soli and jus sanguinis refer to the two main principles governing acquisition of nationality in the legal systems of States, on the basis of place of birth or descent from a national, respectively” (see p. 15, fn. 24 of the Handbook, cited above). 14 C. Becker, Jus Soli: A miraculous solution to prevent statelessness, 9 April 2015, available at: https://bit.ly/1NVOYlF 15 UNHCR, Refugee Status, Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality, and Statelessness within the Context of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, October 2014, PPLA/2014/01, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/543525834.html; and UN Human Rights Council, Human rights and arbitrary deprivation of nationality: Report of the Secretary-General, 19 December 2013, A/HRC/25/28, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/52f8d19a4.html. MAPPING STATELESSNESS IN POLAND