Joint Workshop of the Council of Europe and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

"To Review Existing Citizenship Legislation of Georgia and to Consider Proposals for Reform" - Comments by the Council of Europe co-organisers

Jens Ölander
Programme Adviser
Nationality and Family Law Unit
Private Law Department
Directorate General of Legal Affairs
Council of Europe

Citizenship is often a delicate issue because it relates to the sovereignty and identity of the State. According to the definitions of the Council of Europe, "citizenship" is the legal link between an individual and a State and is synonymous with the term "nationality". It does not indicate ethnic origin. The possession of a citizenship is also a most basic right, as it is usually the precondition for the enjoyment of many other rights: the right to return to the country of citizenship, the right to vote, the right to be elected, the right to chose residence within the home country and in many cases also the right to own property and the right to seek employment.

Citizenship is a field of legislation where the interaction between the laws of one State with those of other States is of particular importance. The simultaneous application of the laws of two or more States might lead to a situation in which a person acquires multiple nationality, or - to the contrary- in which a person becomes stateless. The important and often problematic consequences of this interaction between the citizenship laws of different States is one of the reasons why the Council of Europe since the 1950s has been dealing with citizenship issues. The increased migration and movement of persons within Europe and between Europe and other continents have steadily increased the importance of the co-operation in the field of citizenship.

The purpose of the workshop organised jointly by UNHCR and the Council of Europe in Tbilisi on 11-12 October 2000 was to discuss the standards of the United Nations and the Council of Europe in the field of citizenship and the avoidance of statelessness, to review the existing citizenship legislation of Georgia and to consider proposals for reform. The discussion during the two days were open and frank. The Georgian experts explained the provisions of the citizenship law of Georgia and the main problems they have encountered in this field. The experts of the Council of Europe and UNHCR presented the co-operation of their organisations in this field and in particular the basic provisions of the 1997 European Convention on Nationality, the 1954 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 United Nations Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.

As far as the European Convention on Nationality is concerned, the experts of the Council of Europe, Mr Roland Schärer and Mr Giovanni Kojanec, explained that in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, a child has the right to the citizenship of at least one of the parents. They explained further that the legislation of each State must operate in a way which respects these rights and which avoids the creation of statelessness. They noted that the avoidance of statelessness is also the aim of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. The Council of Europe experts emphasised also the right to change citizenship and noted that for instance high fees for renunciation of the previous citizenship may not prevent individuals from exercising this right.

The experts of Georgia presented the basic provisions of the current law on citizenship of Georgia in particular those relating to the acquisition of citizenship by birth, the definition of the original body of citizens (those who where considered citizens when the current law entered into force) and the loss of citizenship. They also explained the problems relating to the repatriation of formerly deported persons from the perspective of both citizenship rights and social integration. The Georgian representatives furthermore presented the plans for revising the current citizenship law and their ideas for a comprehensive legislative framework relating to the integration of formerly deported persons.

In the discussions on the citizenship legislation of Georgia, the participants paid special attention to the avoidance of statelessness and to the right to change citizenship. The experts of the Council of Europe and UNHCR emphasised that under no circumstances may the renunciation of citizenship lead to statelessness and that citizenship may not be withdrawn by a State if it leads to statelessness (except when it has been acquired by fraud). The participants also discussed the right to appeal against negative decisions and the importance that reasons in writing always are given as well as the question when it is possible to avoid multiple nationality and when it is impossible.

The participants agreed on the importance of further co-operation in the field of citizenship and the avoidance of statelessness between Georgia, the Council of Europe and UNHCR. This co-operation might take the form of expert meetings, written consultations and translation of documents.

The workshop in Tbilisi was one of the many activities in which the Council of Europe and UNHCR have co-operated closely in the field of citizenship and the avoidance of statelessness. The success of this workshop was to an important extent thanks to the excellent work by UNHCR's Branch Office in Tbilisi in the organisation of the meeting and to the prefessional chairmanship by Protection Officer Dirk Hebecker during the two days.