The CRC and the right to acquire and to preserve a nationality

Refugee Survey Quarterly

Volumn 25, Issue 3, 2006, Pages 26-32

  Doek, Jaap E ^a  

^a UN Committee on the Rights of the Child ^*  (Netherlands)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

NATIONALISM;

EID: 33748787401     PISSN: 10204067     EISSN: 1471695X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/rsq/hdi0143     Document Type: Article

References (17)

1. Somalia and the USA have signed the CRC but for various reasons have not yet ratifi ed it. The USA has ratified the two Optional Protocols to the CRC on the involvement of children in armed conflict and on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
2. Article 24(3) of the ICCPR states: "Every child has the right to acquire a nationality". This provision has its origin in Principle 3 of the 1959 UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child: "The Child shall be entitled from his birth to a name and a nationality". The ICCPR has been ratified by 155 States. The other UN human rights treaties don't have a specific provision related to this right.
3. General Comment No. 17 of the UN Human Rights Committee (1989);
4. Article 24 : Rights of the Child, paragraph 8 (HRI/GEN/1/Rev.8 (May 2006), p. 183-185).
5. General Comment No. 7 of the CRC Committee (2005) on Implementing Child Rights in Early Childhood, paragraph 25 (CRC/C/GC/7;
6. see also HRI/GEN/1/Rev.8 (May 2006), p. 432-451.
7. It goes beyond the scope of this contribution to provide a complete compilation of the relevant parts of the Committee's Concluding Observations. By way of example see some of the most recent ones for Cyprus (2003), children born out of wedlock, Turkish children; Belize (2003) children of immigrants; Kazakhstan (2003) children of repatriated Kazakh families; Nepal (2005), refugee children; Syria (2003) children of Kurdish parents; Thailand (2006) children of refugee, asylum seeking and stateless parents. These and other Concluding Observations are posted on the website of the Offi ce of the High Commissioner on for Human Rights: Www.ohchc.org.
8. See e.g. the Concluding Observations on Saudi Arabia (2006), par. 39; Syrian Arab Republic (2003), paragraph 33; and Togo (2005), paragraph 36.
9. See e.g. the Concluding Observations on the Czech Republic (2003), par. 38; Estonia (2003), par. 29; Indonesia (2004), par. 66; Kazakhstan (2003), par. 33 and 64; Mongolia (2005), par. 57; Myanmar (2004), par. 65, Nigeria (2005), par. 64; Romania (2003), par. 33; Syrian Arab Republic (2003), par. 33.
10. See also the CRC Committee's General Comment No. 6 (2005) on Treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin. CRC/GC/2005/6 and published in the UN Document HRI/GEN/1/Rev. 8 (May 2006), p. 407-431.
11. One may argue, like Nowak did (see M. Nowak, UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: CCPR Commentary; 1993), that the right to immediate registration after birth (art. 24(2) of the ICCPR) and the right to recognition as a person before the law (art. 16 of the ICCPR) are closely related to the right of every person to his or her identity. But it does not constitute a right to preserve that identity.
12. See e,g, Sharon Detrick, S., A Commentary on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, p. 159-168; 1999 Kluwer Law International/Martinus Nijhoff publishers, The Hague, 1999.
13. See e.g. J.S. Cerda, J.S., The Draft Convention on the Rights of the Child: New Rights, 12 Human Rights Quarterly Vol. 12, (1990), p. 115-119; at p. 117: 'Developments that may subsequently occur in the area of genetic engineering should be covered by an element in Article 8 relating to the duty of States to preserve the identity of the child'.
14. From the drafting history it can also be concluded that the concern of some States' representatives in the openended working group was the possibility that under "family identity" (and thus also under "family relations") claims could be made based on artificial reproduction technology. See for the drafting history: Detrick, S. (ed,: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, A Guide to the "Travaux Préparatoires", p, 291-296;
15. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Dordrecht, Boston, London,. 1992, p. 291-296.
16. See Gomien, D., Whose Right (and Whose Duty) is it? An Analysis of the Substance and Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 7 New York Law School Journal on Human Rights, Vol. 7, (1989), pp. 161-175.
17. This "definition" is derived from article 25 of the Draft International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance; UN Document A/HRC/1/L.2, 23 June 2006.