ECtHR, 13 July 2023, Emin Huseynov v. Azerbaijan (No. 2), Appl. No. 1/2016

The Arbitrary Deprivation of Citizenship under the Scrutiny of the European Court of Human Rights

Abstract

The European Court of Human Rights decides on a case of renunciation of citizenship under State coercion which essentially amounts to an arbitrary deprivation of citizenship. Although the right to citizenship is not enshrined in the ECHR Convention, the Court decides in this case because of the impact that citizenship has on private life, which is a very broad concept and encompasses multiple aspects of a person’s identity, at both physical and social levels, finding the arbitrariness of the measure and thus a violation of Article 8 of the Convention. This case is the starting point for a brief review of the principles affirmed by the European Court of Human Rights on nationality and citizenship, as well as a reflection on the growing trend of denationalization leading to statelessness.