Amendments to the law on citizenship are unconstitutional, expert

Baku/30.05.14/Turan : The amendments to the law on citizenship of Azerbaijan adopted today are  due to the simplification of procedures for granting citizenship of Russia, Turan was  told by the  head of the Research Foundation "Legal State" Muzaffar Bakhihev , commenting on the reaction changes.

According to him, these amendments are contrary to the Constitution. In particular, "shameful " is the rate at which  not notification  within one month the authorities about getting  other citizenship entails criminal responsibility. "This tightening is unfounded since the entry into foreign citizenship is not socially dangerous act,"  he said. "Anti-constitutional" expert named the norm according to which a born child whose one or both parents are foreigners ,  is not given a  local citizenship .

Unacceptable and the amendment to Article 18, in which the citizenship of another state may cause a deprivation of citizenship of Azerbaijan. "Article 53 of the Constitution clearly says that no one can be deprived of the Azerbaijani state," said Bakhishev.

Laws inconsistent with the Constitution and international instruments to which Azerbaijan cannot be binding do not have any force, said the expert.

According to international conventions, Azerbaijan should contribute to the reduction of stateless persons. "However, these amendments create the conditions for the growth of stateless persons," said the expert.

With the adoption of these amendments becomes unclear the fate of hundreds of thousands of citizens of Azerbaijan, having previously taken citizenship of foreign countries.

Under the Constitution, the law is not retroactive. "But they are Azerbaijanis, and the application of laws in a deplorable state. Therefore, it is possible that these amendments will be applied against those who got citizenship long ago," said Bakhishev. -03B-