Online global inventory of nationality laws

Rey Koslowski

The proposed project would assemble an online collection of all the nationality laws of all 191 UN member states in native language and translated into English. Particular attention would be paid to laws and regulations governing ascription of nationality at birth, naturalization, acquisition of nationality through marriage, loss and recovery of nationality and any specific provisions for dual nationality.

This project would build on similar to past inventories, such as that complied by Professors Richard W. Flournoy, Jr. and Manley O. Hudson (1929) and the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC 1954), and extend the work of the Council of Europe’s European Bulletin on Nationality by adding texts of the nationality laws of additional states and hyperlinks to other postings of these laws by governments.

The project will draw as much as possible on other online collections such as that of the World Legal Information Institute, migration and citizenship collection at: http://www.worldlii.org/catalog/50079.html.

Once the initial inventory is completed, the project would require a mechanism and staffing for periodic updating.

Currently, I am in the exploratory process of finding a critical mass of collaborators and potential funding sources.

If you are aware of other online nationality law collections or are interested in joining this effort, please email a brief note to Rey Koslowski at: rkoslowski@uamail.albany.edu. I will then include you in the project organization listserv unless otherwise requested.

References:

Flournoy, Jr., Richard W. and Manley O. Hudson, eds., 1929. A Collection of Nationality Laws of Various Countries as Contained in Constitutions, Statutes and Treaties (New York: Oxford University Press).

ILC 1954: International Law Commission Yearbook 1954 II