At the beginning of this century, discriminatory practices in some communes of central Switzerland have been at the centre of public debate: in order to document the differences in the municipal practices we need to better understand standardised naturalisation rates.
Last week, the US Justice Department announced the creation of a “Denaturalisation Section”, which will focus on stripping US citizenship status of those it believes had acquired it fraudulently. However, this choice contributes to the undermining of the post-World War 2 consensus that the right to citizenship is a basic human right.
On 21 February, the Scottish Parliament approved the Scottish Elections (Franchise and Representation) Bill that extends the franchise in Scottish parliamentary (Holyrood) and local government elections in two significant ways.
The Colombian Constitutional Court took an important decision in the context of the current migratory movement triggered by the crisis in Venezuela. This judgment could become a benchmark for the fight against statelessness.
The Raad van State (Council of State of the Netherlands, sitting as Supreme Administrative Court of the Netherlands) decided how the Netherlands authorities have to deal with the cases which gave rise to the preliminary ruling procedure decided by Court of Justice of the European Union in Tjebbes and Others.
The Australian High Court was called to decide whether Aboriginal Australians, born overseas, without the statutory status of Australian citizenship and owing foreign allegiance (ie possessing a foreign citizenship), were ‘aliens’ within the meaning of s 51(xix) of the Australian Constitution. If they were, then they could be deported under the relevant provisions of the Migration Act 1958.
Estonia took another step towards eliminating the problem of statelessness and/or absence of Estonian citizenship among children – descendants of Soviet settlers. How much further can the rules be simplified?
Because of an amendment to the Danish citizenship act, children born to a Danish parent who has unlawfully entered or stays in a ‘conflict zone’ will not acquire Danish citizenship by birth. What are potential risks of statelessness?
In Irish immigration law, the conditions for becoming a citizen through the process of naturalisation demand that the immigrant acquires a reckonable residence of five out of nine years in the State. However, the determination of this residence period poses a problem in establishing which legal concept of residence is required. Legal terminology on residency can be found in different areas of law. You will find ‘lawful residency’ in immigration law, and ‘actual residency’ in taxation law, ‘normal residency’ and ‘habitual residency’ are both found in succession law and family law: but what of ‘continuous residence’?
Greece has joined the growing group of states that have extended the right to vote in national elections to their citizens abroad. Although the rhetorics – and to a certain extend the expectations – of the Greek government were far more generous in terms of expanding the vote to a broader expatriate electorate, the law provides for a considerable number of restrictions aiming at guaranteeing that the persons entitled to vote conserve genuine links with the country.
