Reactionary amendments to the Law on Citizenship

The Milli Majlis made amendments to the law " On Citizenship of the Republic of Azerbaijan ."  The Article 10 of the Act is supplemented by part 2 , which states that a citizen of Azerbaijan, who  adopted the citizenship of another state, shall within one month notify in writing the appropriate executive authorities. For non-compliance this requirement criminal responsibility is provided (what kind of executive power is not specified.)

The content  of the Article 12 as also changed. The new version says that if both parents of a child born on the territory of Azerbaijan are foreigners ,  the child is not considered a citizen of Azerbaijan.

If one of the parents  is  a foreigner, and the other is stateless person , the child is not considered a citizen of Azerbaijan.

However , if both parents  are stateless persons, the child is a citizen of Azerbaijan.

The Article 18 of the Law (loss of  Azerbaijani citizenship) was also changed. The new version expands the list of cases of loss of citizenship of Azerbaijan.

In the previous version a persons could be deprived of citizenship if while  admission deliberately was falsified the required information, or submitted a falsified document.

In the new version the basis for the loss of citizenship of Azerbaijan may also be: voluntary adoption of the citizenship of another state; Voluntary Service  of Azerbaijani in state or municipal authorities,  in the armed forces or other armed groups of a foreign state ;  the behavior of Azerbaijani causing serious damage to national security.

During the discussions  the head of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Policy and State Building Ali Huseynli assured that the rules of this law does not extend to persons who have already assumed the citizenship of foreign countries, because the law is not retroactive.

According to him , the changes are intended to clarify the law and to eliminate gaps , since the Constitution of Azerbaijan does not allow dual citizenship. -06D-