This post discusses New Zealand’s Waitangi Tribunal’s inquiry into whether the restriction of transmission of citizenship by descent to one generation, contained in the New Zealand Citizenship Act 1977, breaches the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. Read More …
This blog post discusses the ongoing restrictive changes to naturalisation policy in Finland. It links these policy changes to domestic and regional political dynamics, both of which involve the radical right as a driving force behind citizenship reform. Read More …
Hannah Segers (University of Vienna) In an increasingly interconnected world, migration continues to transform societies, economies, and political landscapes. With around 300 million people living outside their countries of citizenship, the question of political inclusion has become more relevant than ever. Read More …
In 2024, Benin adopted a law offering people of African descent the opportunity to acquire nationality ‘by recognition’. In this blog post, Eric Codjo Montcho Agbassa and Renaud Fiacre Avlessi discuss the context of the law, its key provisions, and legal consequences, as well as its appeal to potential applicants. Read More …
This post analyses the Hungarian procedure of citizenship suspension introduced in June 2025 based on the 15th amendment of the Fundamental Law. It aims to problematise citizenship suspension as a legal instrument weaponised by an illiberal democracy and to contribute to academic debate on the securitisation of citizenship. Read More …
The Court of Justice of the EU’s judgment in Commission v Malta raises many issues. Three points in particular will be addressed. Firstly, the integration of Union citizenship into the ongoing transformational constitutional jurisprudence. Secondly, the role of mutual recognition and mutual trust in the judgment. Thirdly, the meaning and significance of the ‘special relationship of solidarity and good faith’ requirement. Finally, a reflection is offered on the legitimacy of the reasoning of the Court. Read More …
This post critically evaluates the decision of the EU Court of Justice in Commission v Malta, in which it decided that the Citizenship by Investment scheme of Malta is contrary to EU law. The blog post argues that the expansionary reading of EU citizenship in the case lacks substantive legal justification. Read More …
Alíz Nagy (Eötvös Loránd University) In his recent annual address, Viktor Orbán announced that the Hungarian Fundamental Law is set to be amended, yet again and for the 15th time. On the 12th of March, members of the ruling Fidesz Read More …
The increased number of British nationals acquiring citizenship elsewhere in Europe in the wake of the Brexit referendum has been widely reported. New data from Eurostat, combined with statistical analysis, inform us that over 90 thousand British citizens have acquired a European passport, eight years after the 2016 referendum, who likely would not have done so had it not been for Brexit. These numbers are in addition to the around 120 thousand British nationals who are reported to have acquired Irish citizenship as a child or grandchild of Irish citizens. Read More …
The term ‘passportisation’ refers to the practice of extending nationality to substantial numbers of individuals beyond the boundary of the state, including by forcible imposition of nationality. At an international level, two effects – each potentially an aim of value to the state extending its nationality – are the erosion of the territorial sovereignty of the state of residence by the new ability of the state of nationality to intervene to protect those possessing its nationality, conformably with article 51 of the UN Charter, and reduced scope for the individual to seek international protection as against a state of his or her nationality. In the post-Soviet period passportisation been much practised by the Russian Federation, in Georgia, Ukraine, and elsewhere. On 18 June 2024 Dr Gaiane Nuridzhanian provided a helpful account of recent decisions touching on it, including in the context of human rights. Since then the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has decided an interstate case concerning Russian activities concerning Crimea, Ukraine v Russia (Re Crimea) appns 20958/14 and 38334/18) [2024] ECHR 569, which within its wider decision sets out significant findings regarding passportisation. Read More …
