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Resolution 1989 (2014) Final version
Access to nationality and the effective implementation of the European Convention on Nationality
1. The Parliamentary Assembly reiterates
the importance of nationality matters. These are closely interrelated
with human rights and the rule of law and are therefore a priority
for the Council of Europe.
2. The Assembly recalls that the right to a nationality, as the
“right to have rights”, is enshrined in several international legal
instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Whilst
it is not directly enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights
(ETS No. 5), the European Convention on Nationality (ETS No. 166)
explicitly guarantees the right to a nationality.
3. The Assembly regrets that the European Convention on Nationality
has been ratified by only 20 member States of the Council of Europe,
most of which have also made reservations or declarations. It therefore
calls on all the member States concerned to sign and/or ratify the
convention without delay, and without restrictive reservations or
declarations.
4. The Assembly considers that statelessness should be prevented
and eliminated as soon as possible, as it prevents individuals from
enjoying all their human rights and encroaches on their human dignity.
It is particularly concerned about the high number of stateless
persons, including children, in some member States, and in particular
in Latvia, the Russian Federation, Estonia, as well as in Ukraine.
5. In order to prevent and eliminate statelessness, the Assembly
calls on the member States, if they have not yet done so, to:
5.1. sign and/or ratify the United
Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons of 1954
and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness of 1961;
5.2. implement the provisions of these two legal instruments,
and in particular to:
5.2.1. provide for safeguards against
statelessness in their national law, particularly by ensuring automatic
acquisition of nationality for children born on their territory
who would otherwise be stateless, as well as in situations where
a person’s loss of nationality would lead to his or her statelessness;
5.2.2. establish statelessness determination procedures in line
with the guidelines of the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) and avoid refusing to recognise a person as stateless
when his or her situation meets the definition of a stateless person
as set out in Article 1 of the Convention relating to the Status
of Stateless Persons, in particular through the introduction of
“alternative” definitions of statelessness at the national level;
5.2.3. adopt legislation that facilitates the recognition of
nationality via registration and/or simplified naturalisation of
stateless persons on their territory;
5.2.4. provide for access to information, free legal aid and
appeal procedures to stateless persons seeking naturalisation;
5.2.5. strengthen procedures for birth registration, if need
be, so as to eliminate obstacles to birth registration for newborn
babies, irrespective of their immigration status, and raise awareness
of such procedures among stateless persons and persons at risk of
statelessness;
5.2.6. reconstitute any damaged civil registers, including through
facilitating international co-operation between registry offices;
5.2.7. consider procedures for mandatory registration of newborn
babies of stateless parents as nationals of the country of birth,
the only exception being when parents provide proof of immediate
acquisition of the nationality of another State.
6. The Assembly considers that the Russian Federation's en masse
distribution of Russian passports to persons living outside the
Russian Federation (“passportisation”) is contrary to the Council
of Europe's principles. The Assembly shares the opinion of the Venice
Commission on the Amendments to the Federal Law on Defence of the
Russian Federation (CDL-AD(2010)052) and considers that justifying
the military actions by a member State against other member States
by the need to protect its own citizens is not compatible with Council
of Europe standards.
7. The Assembly notes that the possibility of multiple nationalities
has become a commonly accepted trend in the last few decades, due
to increased international mobility and mixed marriages. The prohibition
of multiple nationalities should no longer be an obstacle to the
integration of large groups of long-term resident aliens. The renunciation
of the nationality of origin should not be a necessary precondition
for the acquisition of the nationality of the host country.
8. The Assembly therefore calls on member States:
8.1. to review their nationality
policies in the light of international legal standards on matters
relating to nationality;
8.2. to facilitate access to nationality (naturalisation) for
long-term residents, according to the following principles:
8.2.1. the period of time required for fulfilling the residence
condition shall not exceed five years;
8.2.2. procedural fees as well as those related to language and
civic knowledge tests shall be justified and proportionate;
8.2.3. decisions on nationality shall be reasoned and there shall
be a right of appeal against them;
8.2.4. conditions for naturalisation as well as their implementation
should not be discriminatory on the grounds of gender, race, religion,
national or ethnic origin, native language or other grounds;
8.3. not to discriminate against their citizens on the grounds
of how they acquired their nationality, in order to avoid having
different classes of citizens.
9. The Assembly calls on the Russian Federation to stop the en
masse distribution of Russian passports in other member States.
10. The Assembly calls on member States to step up the co-ordination
of their policies relating to nationality matters in areas which
might involve the interests of several States, such as multiple
nationals’ military obligations, diplomatic protection or voting
rights, or issuance of civil registration or identity documents.