On 6 November 1997, at Strasbourg, the European Convention on Nationality (ETS No. 166) was done. One original, English and French equally authentic, deposited in the archives of the Council of Europe. It is open for signature by member States and by non-member States which participated in its elaboration. It is not the 1963 Convention on the Reduction of Cases of Multiple Nationality and not Protocol No. 12 to the ECHR.

Article 1: principles and rules relating to the nationality of natural persons and rules regulating military obligations in cases of multiple nationality, to which the internal law of the States Parties shall conform. Article 2: “nationality” means the legal bond between a person and a State and does not indicate ethnic origin; a child is every person below the age of 18 unless, under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained earlier. Article 3: each State shall determine under its own law who are its nationals; other States shall accept that law in so far as it is consistent with applicable conventions, customary international law and generally recognised principles of law regarding nationality.

Article 4: everyone has the right to a nationality; statelessness shall be avoided; no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of nationality; neither marriage nor its dissolution, nor a change of nationality by one spouse, shall automatically affect the nationality of the other. Article 5: no discrimination on grounds of sex, religion, race, colour or national or ethnic origin; the principle of non-discrimination between nationals by birth and those who have acquired nationality subsequently. Article 6: acquisition ex lege by children one of whose parents is a national, subject to possible exceptions for children born abroad, and by foundlings who would otherwise be stateless; children born on the territory who acquire no other nationality; naturalisation after lawful and habitual residence of not more than ten years; facilitation for spouses, adopted children, stateless persons and recognised refugees.

Article 7: loss ex lege or at the State’s initiative only in the listed cases — voluntary acquisition of another nationality, fraud, voluntary service in a foreign military force, conduct seriously prejudicial to vital interests, lack of a genuine link with a national habitually residing abroad, and the other enumerated grounds; children shall not lose that nationality if one parent retains it; no statelessness, except in the fraud case. Article 8: renunciation provided it does not produce statelessness; a State may confine it to habitual residents abroad. Article 12: administrative or judicial review. Article 13: reasonable fees, not an obstacle to review.

Article 26: does not prejudice more favourable rights in internal law or other instruments; does not prejudice application of the 1963 Convention and its Protocols between the Parties bound by them. Article 27: entry into force on the first day of the month following expiry of three months after three member States have expressed consent. The United Nations Treaty Series records 1 March 2000, No. 37248, volume 2135, p. 213. Article 29: no reservations to Chapters I, II and VI. Article 31: denunciation of the Convention as a whole or of Chapter VII only. Current party counts are not given here.

Palais de l'Europe, Strasbourg. Seat of the Council of Europe, not the confirmed signing hall. Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

For context: European Convention on Nationality. The text: UNTS vol. 2135, p. 213.