CONVENTION ON CERTAIN QUESTIONS RELATING TO THE CONFLICT OF NATIONALITY LAWS

(The Hague, 12 April 1930)

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 1 JULY 1937, in accordance with articles 25 and 26

Depository: Secretariat of the League of Nations

PREAMBLE

CONSIDERING that it is of importance to settle by international agreement questions relating to the conflict of nationality laws;

BEING CONVINCED that it is in the general interest of the international community to secure that all its members should recognise that every person should have a nationality and should have one nationality only; 

RECOGNISING accordingly that the ideal towards which the efforts of humanity should be directed in this domain is the abolition of all cases both of statelessness and of double nationality; 

BEING OF OPINION that, under the economic and social conditions which at present exist in the various countries, it is not possible to reach immediately a uniform solution of all the abovementioned problems; 

BEING DESIROUS, nevertheless, as a first step toward this great achievement, of settling in a first attempt at progressive codification, those questions relating to the conflict of nationality laws on which it is possible at the present time to reach international agreement, 

HAVE DECIDED to conclude a Convention and have for this purpose appointed as their Plenipotentiaries: 

[Names of plenipotentiaries not reproduced here.] 

WHO, having deposited their full powers found in good and due form, 

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Article 1

It is for each State to determine under its own law who are its nationals. This law shall be recognised by other States in so far as it is consistent with international conventions, international custom, and the principles of law generally recognised with regard to nationality. 

Article 2

Any question as to whether a person possesses the nationality of a particular State shall be determined in accordance with the law of that State. 

Article 3

Subject to the provisions of the present Convention, a person having two or more nationalities may be regarded as its national by each of the States whose nationality he possesses. 

Article 4

A State may not afford diplomatic protection to one of its nationals against a State whose nationality such person also possesses. 

Article 5

Within a third State, a person having more than one nationality shall be treated as if he had only one. Without prejudice to the application of its law in matters of personal status and of any conventions in force, a third State shall, of the nationalities which any such person possesses, recognise exclusively in its territory either the nationality of the country in which he is habitually and principally resident, or the nationality of the country with which in the circumstances he appears to be in fact most closely connected. 

Article 6

Without prejudice to the liberty of a State to accord wider rights to renounce its nationality, a person possessing two nationalities acquired without any voluntary act on his part may renounce one of them with the authorisation of the State whose nationality he desires to surrender. 

This authorisation may not be refused in the case of a person who has his habitual and principal residence abroad, if the conditions laid down in the law of the State whose nationality he desires to surrender are satisfied. 

CHAPTER II

EXPATRIATION PERMITS

Article 7

In so far as the law of a State provides for the issue of an expatriation permit, such a permit shall not entail the loss of the nationality of the State which issues it, unless the person to whom it is issued possesses another nationality or unless and until he acquires another nationality. 

An expatriation permit shall lapse if the holder does not acquire a new nationality within the period fixed by the State which has issued the permit. This provision shall not apply in the case of an individual who, at the time when he receives the expatriation permit, already possesses a nationality other than that of the State by which the permit is issued to him. 

The State whose nationality is acquired by a person to whom an expatriation permit has been issued, shall notify such acquisition to the State which has issued the permit. 

CHAPTER III

NATIONALITY OF MARRIED WOMEN

Article 8

If the national law of the wife causes her to lose her nationality on marriage with a foreigner, this consequence shall be conditional on her acquiring the nationality of the husband. 

Article 9

If the national law of the wife causes her to lose her nationality upon a change in the nationality of her husband occurring during marriage, this consequence shall be conditional on her acquiring her husband's new nationality. 

Article 10

Naturalisation of the husband during marriage shall not involve a change in the nationality of the wife except with her consent. 

Article 11

The wife who, under the law of her country, lost her nationality on marriage shall not recover it after the dissolution of the marriage except on her own application and in accordance with the law of that country. If she does recover it, she shall lose the nationality which she acquired by reason of the marriage. 

CHAPTER IV

NATIONALITY OF CHILDREN

Article 12

Rules of law which confer nationality by reason of birth on the territory of a State shall not apply automatically to children born to persons enjoying diplomatic immunities in the country where the birth occurs. 

The law of each State shall permit children of consuls de carrière, or of officials of foreign States charged with official missions by their Governments, to become divested, by repudiation or otherwise, of the nationality of the State in which they were born, in any case in which on birth they acquired dual nationality, provided that they retain the nationality of their parents. 

Article 13

Naturalisation of the parents shall confer on such of their children as, according to its law, are minors the nationality of the State by which the naturalisation is granted. In such case the law of that State may specify the conditions governing the acquisition of its nationality by the minor children as a result of the naturalisation of the parents. In cases where minor children do not acquire the nationality of their parents as the result of the naturalisation of the latter, they shall retain their existing nationality. 

Article 14

A child whose parents are both unknown shall have the nationality of the country of birth. If the child's parentage is established, its nationality shall be determined by the rules applicable in cases where the parentage is known. 

A foundling is, until the contrary is proved, presumed to have been born on the territory of the State in which it was found. 

Article 15

Where the nationality of a State is not acquired automatically by reason of birth on its territory, a child born on the territory of that State of parents having no nationality, or of unknown nationality, may obtain the nationality of the said State. The law of that State shall determine the conditions governing the acquisition of its nationality in such cases. 

Article 16

If the law of the State, whose nationality an illegitimate child possesses, recognises that such nationality may be lost as a consequence of a change in the civil status of the child (legitimation, recognition), such loss shall be conditional on the acquisition by the child of the nationality of another State under the law of such State relating to the effect upon nationality of changes in civil status. 

CHAPTER V

ADOPTION

Article 17

If the law of a State recognises that its nationality may be lost as the result of adoption, this loss shall be conditional upon the acquisition by the person adopted of the nationality of the person by whom he is adopted, under the law of the State of which the latter is a national relating to the effect of adoption upon nationality. 

CHAPTER VI

GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 18

The High Contracting Parties agree to apply the principles and rules contained in the preceding Articles in their relations with each other, as from the date of the entry into force of the present Convention. 

The inclusion of the abovementioned principles and rules in the Convention shall in no way be deemed to prejudice the question whether they do or do not already form part of international law. 

It is understood that, in so far as any point is not covered by any of the provisions of the preceding Articles, the existing principles and rules of international law shall remain in force. 

Article 19

Nothing in the present Convention shall affect the provisions of any treaty, convention or agreement in force between any of the High Contracting Parties relating to nationality or matters connected therewith. 

Article 20

Any High Contracting Party may, when signing or ratifying the present Convention or acceding thereto, append an express reservation excluding any one or more of the provisions of Articles 1 to 17 and 21. 

The provisions thus excluded cannot be applied against the Contracting Party who has made the reservation nor relied on by that Party against any other Contracting Party. 

Article 21

If there should arise between the High Contracting Parties a dispute of any kind relating to the interpretation or application of the present Convention and if such dispute cannot be satisfactorily settled by diplomacy, it shall be settled in accordance with any applicable agreements in force between the parties providing for the settlement of international disputes. 

In case there is no such agreement in force between the parties, the dispute shall be referred to arbitration or judicial settlement, in accordance with the constitutional procedure of each of the parties to the dispute. In the absence of agreement on the choice of another tribunal, the dispute shall be referred to the Permanent Court of International Justice, if all the parties to the dispute are parties to the Protocol of 16 December 1920 relating to the Statute of that Court, and if any of the parties to the dispute is not a party to the Protocol of 16 December 1920, the dispute shall be referred to an arbitral tribunal constituted in accordance with the Hague Convention of 18 October 1907 for the Pacific Settlement of International Conflicts. 

Article 22

The present Convention shall remain open until 31 December 1930 for signature on behalf of any Member of the League of Nations or of any non-Member State invited to the First Codification Conference or to which the Council of the League of Nations has communicated a copy of the Convention for this purpose. 

Article 23

The present Convention is subject to ratification. Ratifications shall be deposited with the Secretariat of the League of Nations. 

The Secretary-General shall give notice of the deposit of each ratification to the Members of the League of Nations and to the non-Member States mentioned in Article 22, indicating the date of its deposit. 

Article 24

As from 1 January 1931, any Member of the League of Nations and any non-Member State mentioned in Article 22 on whose behalf the Convention has not been signed before that date, may accede thereto. 

Accession shall be effected by an instrument deposited with the Secretariat of the League of Nations. The Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall give notice of each accession to the Members of the League of Nations and to the non-Member States mentioned in Article 22, indicating the date of the deposit of the instrument. 

Article 25

A procès-verbal shall be drawn up by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations as soon as ratifications or accessions on behalf of ten Members of the League of Nations or non-Member States have been deposited. 

A certified copy of this procès-verbal shall be sent by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations to each Member of the League of Nations and to each non-Member State mentioned in Article 22. 

Article 26

The present Convention shall enter into force on the 90th day after the date of the procès-verbal mentioned in Article 25 as regards all Members of the League of Nations or non-Member States on whose behalf ratifications or accessions have been deposited on the date of the procès-verbal.

As regards any Member of the League or non-Member State on whose behalf a ratification or accession is subsequently deposited, the Convention shall enter into force on the 90th day after the date of the deposit of a ratification or accession on its behalf. 

Article 27

As from 1 January 1936, any Member of the League of Nations or any non-Member State in regard to which the present Convention is then in force, may address to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations a request for the revision of any or all of the provisions of this Convention. If such a request, after being communicated to the other Members of the League and non-Member States in regard to which the Convention is then in force, is supported within one year by at least nine of them, the Council of the League of Nations shall decide, after consultation with the Members of the League of Nations and the non-Member States mentioned in Article 22, whether a conference should be specially convoked for that purpose or whether such revision should be considered at the next conference for the codification of international law. 

The High Contracting Parties agree that, if the present Convention is revised, the revised Convention may provide that upon its entry into force some or all of the provisions of the present Convention shall be abrogated in respect of all of the Parties to the present Convention. 

Article 28

The present Convention may be denounced. 

Denunciation shall be effected by a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, who shall inform all Members of the League of Nations and the non-Member States mentioned in Article 22. 

Each denunciation shall take effect one year after the receipt by the Secretary-General of the notification but only as regards the Member of the League or non-Member State on whose behalf it has been notified. 

Article 29

1. Any High Contracting Party may, at the time of signature, ratification or accession, declare that, in accepting the present Convention, he does not assume any obligations in respect of all or any of his colonies, protectorates, overseas territories or territories under suzerainty or mandate, or in respect of certain parts of the population of the said territories; and the present Convention shall not apply to any territories or to the parts of their population named in such declaration. 

2. Any High Contracting Party may give notice to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations at any time subsequently that he desires that the Convention shall apply to all or any of his territories or to the parts of their population which have been made the subject of a declaration under the preceding paragraph, and the Convention shall apply to all the territories or the parts of their population named in such notice six months after its receipt by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations. 

3. Any High Contracting Party may, at any time, declare that he desires that the present Convention shall cease to apply to all or any of his colonies, protectorates, overseas territories or territories under suzerainty or mandate, or in respect of certain parts of the population of the said territories, and the Convention shall cease to apply to the territories or to the parts of their population named in such declaration one year after its receipt by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations. 

4. Any High Contracting Party may make the reservations provided for in Article 20 in respect of all or any of his colonies, protectorates, overseas territories or territories under suzerainty or mandate, or in respect of certain parts of the population of these territories, at the time of signature, ratification or accession to the Convention or at the time of making a notification under the second paragraph of this Article. 

5. The Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall communicate to all the Members of the League of Nations and the non-Member States mentioned in Article 22 all declarations and notices received in virtue of this Article. 

Article 30

The present Convention shall be registered by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations as soon as it has entered into force. 

Article 31

The French and English texts of the present Convention shall both be authoritative. 

IN FAITH WHEREOF the Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention. 

DONE at The Hague on the twelfth day of April, one thousand nine hundred and thirty, in a single copy, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Secretariat of the League of Nations and of which certified true copies shall be transmitted by the Secretary-General to all the Members of the League of Nations and all the non-Member States invited to the First Conference for the Codification of International Law.