His Chinese-American ancestor defined birthright citizenship. Now he fights to preserve it – Go Health Pro

His Chinese-American ancestor defined birthright citizenship. Now he fights to preserve it – Go Health Pro

Few Americans knew of Norman Wong, a 75-year-old retired carpenter living quietly in Brentwood, California, until a presidential executive order transformed him into an unlikely symbol of a new national battle over a core constitutional issue: who is an American? His face has appeared across major American news organizations in recent days. When the South … Read more

the CJEU rules on Malta’s investor citizenship law – Go Health Pro

the CJEU rules on Malta’s investor citizenship law – Go Health Pro

  Steve Peers, Professor of Law, Royal Holloway University of London* Photo credit: Aldo Ardetti, via Wikimedia Commons *Thanks to Justin Borg-Barthet for corsair quote **This blog post builds on research for the upcoming third edition of The EU Citizenship Directive: A Commentary, by Elspeth Guild, Steve Peers and Jonathan Tomkin (OUP, 2026)   Defending … Read more

Op-Ed: “The End of Citizenship for sale? a legal turning Point in Commission v. Malta (C-181/23)” – Go Health Pro

Op-Ed: “The End of Citizenship for sale? a legal turning Point in Commission v. Malta (C-181/23)” – Go Health Pro

The Grand Chamber’s judgment in Commission v. Malta (C-181/23), delivered on 29 April 2025, marks a decisive step in the European Union’s effort to uphold the integrity of Union citizenship. The Court of Justice held that Malta violated Articles 20 TFEU and 4(3) TEU by operating an investor citizenship scheme that granted nationality in exchange … Read more

ECtHR finds imposition of Russian citizenship in Crimea a breach of article 8 ECHR – EJIL: Talk! – Go Health Pro

ECtHR finds imposition of Russian citizenship in Crimea a breach of article 8 ECHR – EJIL: Talk! – Go Health Pro

A. Introduction

The term ‘passportisation’ refers to the practice of extending nationality to substantial numbers of individuals beyond the boundary of the state, including by forcible imposition of nationality.  At an international level, two effects – each potentially an aim of value to the state extending its nationality –  are the erosion of the territorial sovereignty of the state of residence by the new ability of the state of nationality to intervene to protect those possessing its nationality, conformably with article 51 of the UN Charter, and reduced scope for the individual to seek international protection as against a state of his or her nationality.  In the post-Soviet period passportisation been much practised by the Russian Federation, in Georgia, Ukraine, and elsewhere.  On 18 June 2024 Dr Gaiane Nuridzhanian provided a helpful account of recent decisions touching on it, including in the context of human rights.  Since then the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights has decided an interstate case concerning Russian activities concerning Crimea, Ukraine v Russia (Re Crimea) appns 20958/14 and 38334/18) [2024] ECHR 569, which within its wider decision sets out significant findings regarding passportisation.

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