Former President of the Dominican Republic Discusses Dominican Nationality and Inter-American Court of Human Rights

Dr. Leonel Fernández, former president of the Dominican Republic, recently noted that “there is no statelessness and discrimination in the Dominican Republic. What we have is the sovereign right of all States to decide who its nationals are”.

Dr. Fernandez also noted that in a judgment of 2005 the Supreme Court of the Dominican Republic established the criteria that the term person in transit is one that has no permanent residence in
the Dominican territory. Like Spain, the other members of the European Union, the Dominican Republic and 164 of the 194 Member states of the United Nations does not have a system of granting nationality by the mere fact of being born in its territory.

The official stressed that the Court committed a serious mistake. They ordered the amendment of the Constitution and the laws of the Dominican Republic to grant nationality by way of automatic jus soli.In
doing so, the Court overstepped its decision.

In this regard he noted that in "an affair of this nature, the Dominican government has no other choice but to ignore the ruling by its erroneous legal interpretation; its unreasonable professional judgment; and the fact that it creates obligations that go beyond those available to the International Law”.

Related Links
http://internacional.elpais.com/internacional/1416347666_585123.html
Dominican Nationality and Inter-American Court of Human Rights – English
Dominican Nationality and Inter-American Court of Human Rights – Spanish