STEPANAKERT, SEPTEMBER 23, ARMENPRESS. The Professional Committee on Constitutional Reforms under the President of the Republic of Artsakh proposes to regulate relations related to dual citizenship at a constitutional level.

The Committee made the proposal in the draft Constitution which was put for public discussion today and is available at the legal information system of the Republic of Artsakh (arlexis.am).

“It should be noted that neither the Constitutions of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic of 2006 nor the Republic of Artsakh of 2017 had a reference to dual citizenship. Moreover, the fact that the dual citizenship is not envisaged by the Constitution doesn’t serve as a base to rule it out in the Republic of Artsakh. The evidence of this are the legal acts adopted in the Republic of Artsakh since formation, which have detailed the relations connected with dual citizenship. Thus, the 1992 January 6 Declaration on the Independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic has established that dual citizenship is allowed in the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.

The constitutional law of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic “On the Basics of the State Independence of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic” has defined that the procedures and basis for acquiring dual citizenship is regulated by treaties with other states. The Nagorno Karabakh Republic Law “On Main Principles of the Citizenship of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic has regulated the relations connected with dual citizenship, in particular, it was defined that the citizen of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic can simultaneously be a citizen of other state/states and fulfill the duties of the citizen of other state/states in accordance with the law it is envisaged by international legal acts signed between the sides”, stated in the draft.

“Taking into account the legal procedures enshrined by the internal legislation of the Republic of Artsakh, as well as in order to enshrine constitutional grounds for exercising that right in practice for the citizens of the Republic of Artsakh, the Professional Committee on Constitutional Reforms proposes to regulate the relations connected with dual citizenship at a constitutional level, enshrining the following in the Constitution: “Every citizen of the Republic of Artsakh can have a citizenship of another state in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Artsakh and/or international treaties”, the draft said.