The Right to Nationality; from Private International Law up to Human Rights

The concept of right as one of the fundamental concepts of the law, policy and ethics, has been entered into legal discourse of Iranian community. However, right is a contested concept, and any discussion of it requires theorizing. Despite offering different views about the nature of right that can be categorized under two theories named will-based theory and utility-based theory, it seems that we can recognize the claim-based theory as a comprehensive conceptual theory about right. According to this theory, right is a guaranteed individual claim that has been justified based on two elements of human dignity and moral agency. Any way can we defend the nationality as a human right? In this article we will attempt to show from a descriptive and analytic perspective that nationality is one of the fundamental human claim rights and moreover is the precondition of all rights. The non-recognition of the nationality as right will directly lead to denial of intrinsic dignity and moral agency and therefore deprivation of humanity.