Return to Nationality between Restitution and Recovery: A Comparative Study between the UAE and Kuwaiti Legislation

Dr. Ahmed Al Fadhli
Associate Professor of Private International Law
College of Law – University of Ajman – UAE

Abstract:

This research deals with the subject of the individual’s return to the enjoyment of his nationality, which he lost in accordance with the law, clarifying the difference between returning by way of revocation of nationality under the right granted by law and returning by way of a refund or revocation of nationality by the state through comparing and analyzing the position of the UAE and Kuwaiti legislatures on the issues of recovery and return, and then discussing the procedures for returning to nationality and the competent authorities, and finally the consequences of returning to nationality by way of recovery or return.
The importance of the subject of the research is to address the legislative regulation of the issues of the recovery of nationality and its return in UAE and Kuwaiti laws in order to reveal the confusion of this regulation such as the confusion of concepts and contradiction in the treatment of this issue in order to clarify this confusion and contradiction. This shall be conducted through dividing the research into three sections. The first section shall discuss the concept of recovering or returning the nationality, while the second will analyze the legislative position of this subject in UAE and Kuwaiti laws. The third sections deal with the procedures used to return to nationality and the competent authorities, and then it studies the implications of the recovery or return of nationality.
The study concluded with some results and recommendations, the most important of which is that a request must be made by the individual wishing to return to his nationality. The request should be in the form of a plea and a hope that the state would approve the return of his nationality. In addition, the study differentiates between the return of the nationality and subsequent methods of acquisition of nationality. Furthermore, there is confusion in the Kuwaiti legislation regarding the concepts of return and recovery of nationality. It is recommended that the withdrawal of nationality as a result of cheating or falsifying the data that led to the acquisition of nationality should be excluded from cases under which an individual is allowed to recover the nationality on the basis on the invalidity of the original acquisition. The Kuwaiti legislator also must clarify the confusion between the concepts of return and recovery of nationality.

Key words: freedom of the state, will of the individual, administrative procedures, application, legislative regulation.

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