Ilham Aliyev approved reactionary amendments to the law on citizenship

Amendments to the Law of Azerbaijan "On Citizenship" were approved after the President signed the corresponding decree.

The Head of Research Foundation Legal State Muzaffar Bakhishev told Turan, that the new version of the law is contrary to the Constitution.

"Shameful" is the standard at which not notifying authorities of receiving citizenship of another country within 1 month entails criminal responsibility."

Unconstitutional is also the standard at which a child born in the country, but whose one or both parents are foreigners, does not acquire local citizenship.

Unacceptable is also the amendment to Article 18, in which the citizenship of another state may cause deprivation of the citizenship of Azerbaijan.

"Article 52 of the Constitution clearly says that no one may be deprived of citizenship of Azerbaijan," the expert believes.

According to him, the laws that contravene the Constitution and international conventions may not have strength. According to international agreements, all countries should contribute to the reduction of stateless persons, but these amendments create the conditions for growth in the number of this category of persons.

With the adoption of these amendments, the fate of hundreds of thousands of citizens of Azerbaijan, who had previously taken the citizenship of other countries, becomes unclear.

"Under the Constitution, the law is not retroactive. However, the application of laws in Azerbaijan is in a deplorable state. Therefore, it is possible that these amendments will also apply to those who has long had the citizenship of other countries," said Bakhishev. -17D-