The 1961 Convention, and Preventing Statelessness

In one line

The Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, 1961 attacks the causes rather than the consequences: it requires nationality at birth to a person who would otherwise be stateless, protects foundlings, gives nationality by descent, conditions every loss on the acquisition of another nationality, and forbids deprivation that causes statelessness or that is done on racial, ethnic, religious or political grounds.

The difference between the two conventions

The 1954 Convention manages statelessness. It says what a State owes a person who is already stateless.

The 1961 Convention prevents it. It says what a State's nationality law must contain so that the condition does not arise.

Say that distinction in the first line of any answer on statelessness. It is worth a mark on its own, and it organises everything else.

Article 1: the safeguard at birth

1(1): a Contracting State shall grant its nationality to a person born in its territory who would otherwise be stateless. It shall be granted either at birth, by operation of law, or upon an application lodged in the manner prescribed by national law, and no such application may be rejected except on the conditions in paragraph 2.

1(2): the grant on application may be made subject to one or more of four conditions only:

(a) the application is lodged during a period beginning not later than the age of eighteen and ending not earlier than twenty-one, with at least one year in which the person may apply without legal authorisation;

(b) habitual residence for a period not exceeding five years immediately preceding the application nor ten years in all;

(c) that the person has neither been convicted of an offence against national security nor sentenced to imprisonment for five years or more on a criminal charge;

(d) that the person has always been stateless.

1(3): notwithstanding the above, a child born in wedlock in the territory whose mother has the nationality of that State shall acquire it at birth if it would otherwise be stateless.

1(4) and 1(5): a State shall grant nationality to a person who would otherwise be stateless and who could not acquire the nationality of the State of birth because of age or residence conditions, if one parent held the first State's nationality at birth, subject to conditions of age not less than twenty-three, residence not exceeding three years, and always having been stateless.

Article 1(1) is the provision to quote, because it is the one Indian law does not contain, and that is the whole of the next chapter.

Notice the structure of article 1: the duty is absolute, the permitted conditions are a closed list of four, and no other condition may be imposed. A closed list is a strong drafting technique and it is worth naming as such.