Derechos humanos y competencia exclusiva del Estado en materia de nacionalidad

Abstract

The judgment issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) on 28 August 2014 requires the Dominican Republic to modify its Constitution in order to guarantee the right to Dominican nationality for individuals born in the Dominican Republic to parents that are illegal residents. The IACHR’s ruling represents an unprecedented limitation on the State’s exclusive power to confer citizenship on the grounds of the obligation to respect the human rights of persons with respect to juridical personality, non-discrimination and nationality. This commentary undertakes a critical analysis of the legal arguments presented by the IACHR.