The Scope and Content of Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) provides that “[e]veryone has the right to a nationality” and that “[n]o one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.” Enshrining citizenship and the right to be free from arbitrary deprivation of citizenship as human rights in and of themselves, article 15 of the UDHR establishes the bedrock legal relationship between individuals and states. While all states are bound to respect the human rights of all individuals without distinction, an individual's legal bond to a particular state through citizenship remains in practice an essential prerequisite to the enjoyment and protection of the full range of human rights. This article examines the scope and content of article 15 of the UDHR. The proliferation of human rights norms in international and regional instruments has developed substantive limitations on state sovereignty over citizenship regulation that gives meaning to that provision. In particular, the universal anti-discrimination norm and the principle that statelessness should be avoided have emerged to constrain state discretion on citizenship. But some important gaps in the international legal framework on nationality persist. For example, few normative principles prescribe conditions for granting citizenship and there is a lack of consensus on what constitutes statelessness arising from ineffective citizenship. While human rights developments over the past 60 years have made great strides in giving content and meaning to article 15 of the UDHR, further normative and practical developments are necessary to realize the effective promise of that provision.