Part I State Obligations and Rights Protected, Ch.II Civil and Political Rights, Art.20: Right to Nationality

Abstract

This chapter evaluates Article 20 of the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), which enshrines the right to a nationality. It affirms that everyone has the right to a nationality, while specifying that, in the absence of another nationality, everyone has the right to the nationality of the State in whose territory they were born. Moreover, Article 20-3 prohibits arbitrary deprivation of nationality. The provision echoes other norms previously set forth in international human rights law, but it is silent on the right to be protected against statelessness, which is the other face of the right to a nationality. Article 20 must be read in conjunction with other ACHR rights, including Articles 1-1 and 24 relating to non-discrimination and equality before the law, the right to legal personality (Article 3), the right to fair trial and access to justice (Articles 8 and 25), the right to a name (Article 18), the right to identity (Article 11), and the right of children to special protection (Article 19). The State also has an obligation under Article 2 of the ACHR to bring its domestic law into conformity with Article 20 when it is not fully compatible with the Convention.