NATIONALITY

MEANING OF NATIONALITY

A bond
An allegiance
According to Oppenheim nationality of an individual
is his quality of being subject to a certain state.
In Nottebohm case(Liechtenstein Vs. Guatemala),
PCIJ held – “ nationality is a legal bond having as its
basis a social sense of attachment, a genuine
connection of existence, interests and social
sentiments, together with the existence of reciprocal
rights and duties”
 ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF NATIONALITY

A link between international law and the individual

In determining state responsibility.
Nationality and citizenship.
Nationality and domicile.
 ACQUISITION OF NATIONALITY

Jus soli
Jus sanguinis
Marriage
Adoption
Cession
Naturalisation
resumption
 LOSS OF NATIONALITY

Deprivation
Expiration
Renunciation
substitution
 SOME OTHER IMPORTANT ISSUES

Double nationality
Hague convention on certain questions relating to
conflict of nationality laws,1930 provides for the
effective link test
Nationality, a subject of state jurisdiction
Indian position.
 NATIONALITY IN HUMAN RIGHTS JURISPRUDENCE

UDHR Article 15(1)- everyone has a right to nationality

ICCPR Article 12- no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of the
right to enter his own country.
Convention on nationality of married women,1957 provides
that a woman’s nationality does not automatically change by
marriage or its dissolution.
Convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination
against women brings the state under duty to assure that
women have equal right of nationality.
Nationality decrees in Tunis and Morocco case held that in the
present state of the international law, question of nationality, in
principle, lies in the reserved domain of a state
 STATELESSNESS

Meaning
Instances of statelessness
Effect of statelessness
Hague convention on conflict of nationality laws,1930
and the Convention on reduction of statelessness, 1961
reaffirm the human right of every individual to have a
nationality and provide that in case of statelessness the
individual should be provided nationality by the state
of his birth. Child of an unmarried woman may
become a national of his mother’s country
EXTRADITION
 MEANING AND DEFINITION

Introduction
Purpose of extradition
Extradition is the formal surrender of a person by one state to
another state for prosecution or punishment.
Oppenheim writes: “extradition is the delivery of an accused or
convicted individual to the state where he is accused of, or has been
convicted of a crime, by the state on whose territory he happens for
the time to be.”
Statute of ICC- “extradition means the delivering up of a person by
one state to another as provided by treaty, convention or national
legislation”
There is no customary duty to extradite. In absence of specific
treaty, states have the right to grant asylum.
 LAWS AFFECTING EXTRADITION

International treaties
Municipal legislations and state practices
Indian extradition act, 1903 replaced by the Indian
extradition treaty 1962.
Being a matter of state legislation, there is no
uniformity in the practices of the states
 EXTRADITABILITY

Extraditable person : national of the demanding

state or of a third state. Generally states don’t
extradite their own nationals.
Extraditable crimes: all but
1)political crimes
2)military offences
3)religious offences
 Case of re Castione

A swiss national was arrested in Britain on a warrant

of extradition. He had shot a member of the canton
council in the course of seizing the municipal palace.
He was released on the ground that it was a political
offence. The court observed following elements
suggesting the political nature of the act:
1)he had acted in a political manner
2)the dispute was between two political rivals which
had led to the incidents
 Re meunier’s case

In this case, the prisoner had caused two bomb

explosions killing many. Deciding his extradition,
the court refused to consider his act as a political
offence and held that an act of terrorism cant be held
as a political offence
 Union of India Vs. Mubarak Ali Ahmad

Mubarak Ali had committed forgery and other

serious offences before fleeing to Pakistan. India
could not get him extradited therefrom. Later when
he was in Britain, his extradition was seeked. The
British court refused to hold that he was a political
offender. His case or his extradition having become a
matter of political discussion, doesn’t make his
offence a political one.
 INTERNATIONAL NORMS

The Genocide Convention, 1948, in article 7 holds that

the crime of genocide is not a political offence, for the
purposes of extradition.
The Hague and Montreal Conventions exclude hijacking
from the category of political offences
The European Convention for Suppression of Terrorism
excludes terrorist acts from political crimes.
The Statute of International Criminal Court,1998 puts
general obligation on the party states to cooperate fully
with the court in its investigation and prosecution of
crimes within its jurisdiction.
 SOME OTHER PRINCIPLES

Rule of double criminality(crime in both states)

Rule of speciality (can be punished for those offences
only for which extradited)
Rule of rendition(reciprocal arrangement between
states for extradition of offenders to one another )
ASYLUM
 MEANING OF ASYLUM

The oxford dictionary defines asylum as a sanctuary

or a place of refuge.
It is a refuge followed by active protection.
Can be seen as an incident of territorial sovereignty.
Asylum and extradition.
 KINDS OF ASYLUM

Territorial asylum
a) political asylum
b) refugee asylum
c) general asylum
Extraterritorial asylum
a) diplomatic asylum- the asylum case
(Columbia V. Peru)
b) asylum in warships
 ASYLUM IN HUMAN RIGHTS JURISPRUDENCE

UDHR article 14(1)- everyone has a right to seek and

have asylum in other countries.
Declaration on Diplomatic Asylum,1967 contains
certain suggestive provisions for asylum.
Oppenheim is of the view that none of such
instruments uphold asylum as a right.
Some writers opine that in emergent circumstances,
asylum can be granted also by the international
organizations.