Reasons for Deprivation of Ukrainian Citizenship

The so-called deprivation of Ukrainian citizenship of persons holding dual citizenship has recently become a burning and frequently discussed issue in the press

This issue has received significant publicity and wide media coverage following the President’s decisions regarding political figures, including MP Andrii Artemenko and Odesa Regional Council member Oleksandr Borovyk.

However, for the sake of fairness, it should be noted that the president’s decision to terminate Ukrainian citizenship is not an exceptional or unique phenomenon: Petro Poroshenko has terminated the citizenship of Ukraine for 18.67 thousand people during his tenure.

What is the legal framework for the legal status of individuals, including citizenship?

To answer this question, we should start with an analysis of the provisions of the Constitution of Ukraine.

According to Article 4 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Ukraine has a legal principle of single citizenship, the procedure for acquisition and termination of which is determined by law. Furthermore, Article 25 of the Constitution of Ukraine provides that a citizen of Ukraine cannot be deprived of Ukrainian citizenship, nor of the right to change citizenship.

In line with the same principle, dual (and more) citizenship is not actually prohibited in Ukraine. The Law of Ukraine “On Citizenship of Ukraine” (the “Law”) provides that if a citizen of Ukraine has acquired citizenship (nationality) of another state or states, then in legal relations with Ukraine they are recognised as a citizen of Ukraine exclusively.

Then why are Ukrainian citizens deprived of their citizenship? According to Section 3 of the Law, Ukrainian citizenship may be terminated. The grounds for this may include: renunciation of citizenship, loss of citizenship and grounds provided for by international agreements. In all these cases, Ukrainian citizenship is terminated by a presidential decree.

With renunciation of citizenship, we are clear: citizenship is terminated as a result of an application by a citizen of Ukraine permanently residing abroad. Rare cases provided for in international agreements have also not been the basis for high-profile cases of termination of citizenship, whereas the procedure for loss of citizenship deserves special attention, and it was applied, in particular, to Borovyk and Artemenko.

The grounds for the loss of Ukrainian citizenship are as follows:

1) voluntary acquisition of citizenship of another country by an adult citizen of Ukraine;

2) acquisition of Ukrainian citizenship by a foreigner (or stateless person) as a result of fraud, submission of false information or false documents. This clause also applies to foreigners who have obtained Ukrainian citizenship and have not terminated their foreign citizenship within 2 years;

3) voluntary enlistment of a citizen of Ukraine for military service in a country where, according to the law, such service is not considered military duty or alternative (non-military) service.

This implies that if a Ukrainian citizen has the citizenship of another country, it is perfectly legal to decide to renounce Ukrainian citizenship. It is worth noting that these provisions of Ukrainian law are ambiguous, as the procedure is not described in a transparent manner, and there is no obligation for a Ukrainian citizen to renounce Ukrainian citizenship in case of obtaining a passport of another country.

At the same time, the boundaries between deprivation of citizenship (prohibited by the Constitution of Ukraine) and its loss are blurred. The law, interpreting the principle of single citizenship, stipulates that if a citizen of Ukraine obtains citizenship (nationality) of another state, they are considered to be a citizen of Ukraine in legal relations with Ukraine.

A presidential decree of 27 March 2001 entitled “Issues of organising the implementation of the Law of Ukraine on Citizenship of Ukraine” clarified the procedure for losing citizenship. This subordinate legislation states that in cases where the State Migration Service or diplomatic missions of Ukraine determine that there are grounds for the loss of Ukrainian citizenship of a certain person, they shall notify the Commission on Citizenship under the President of Ukraine, which is authorised to make decisions.

However, and unfortunately, the details of these procedures are also not clearly defined, and it is not provided in detail in which way, on what grounds and by whom the fact of the presence/absence of a second citizenship is initially determined and verified. The failure to establish a detailed procedure may significantly violate the rights of citizens, including the right to privacy and protection of personal data.

Thus, in accordance with the Constitution of Ukraine, the State Migration Service and the Presidential Commission on Citizenship must act in accordance with a certain procedure: for instance, to send a request only in cases clearly defined in the legislation, within certain time limits, etc. Yet, as previously noted, we will not find any such details of the procedure in Ukrainian legislation, which could be used by Andrii Artemenko and his defence lawyers to appeal against the decision to terminate his citizenship.

Despite such obvious drawbacks in the Ukrainian legislation on the issue of termination of Ukrainian citizenship, the law clearly provides for the possibility of the President of Ukraine to decide on the loss (termination) of Ukrainian citizenship upon receipt of any official confirmation of dual citizenship.

Thus, Ukrainian citizens who hold citizenship of another country risk being included in the list of persons whose citizenship has been terminated, although this risk is still extremely low, as the procedure is quite complicated and the decision is subject to appeal.

Originally published on 19 May 2017 here: https://biz.nv.ua/ukr/experts/za-shcho-mozhut-pozbaviti-gromadjanstva-ukrajini-1168086.html