State Continuity and Nationality: The Baltic States and Russia

Ineta Ziemele is Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union and Professor of International Law at the Riga Graduate School of Law in Latvia. Since 2017 she is a corresponding Member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. She has served as President of the Latvian Constitutional Court and Judge on the European Court of Human Rights and President of Section. She received her legal education at the University of Latvia, Lund University (M.I.L.) and University of Cambridge (Ph.D.) and held Chevening, Fulbright, and Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public and International Law research scholarships. She is the founder and co-editor-in-chief of the Baltic Yearbook of International Law and member of advisory or editorial boards of the European Convention on Human Rights Law Review and International Journal on Minority and Groups Rights.

• ContentsForeword to the First EditionPreface to the Second EditionTable of CasesList of AbbreviationsPART 1Introduction1 State Continuity and Nationality: An Overview of the Issues and the Limits of Inquiry2 The Persistent Significance of NationalityPART 2The State3 Claims of the Baltic States to State Continuity1 Introduction2 Estonia3 Latvia4 Lithuania5 Conclusions4 The View of the Russian Federation Concerning Its International Legal Status1 Introduction2 Constitutional Developments since 19903 Continuity of the Russian Federation in the 1993 Constitution4 Other Principles of the Constitution5 Conclusions5 International Reactions to the Claims of the Baltic States and the Russian Federation1 Introduction2 The Practice of International Organisations3 Bilateral Relations4 Conclusions6 Assessment of Claims to State Continuity in an International Law Context1 Introduction2 International Legal Personality of States3 Statehood in International Law4 State Continuity and/or Identity5 State Succession v. State ContinuityPART 3Nationality7 The Regulation of Nationality in the Baltic States1 Introduction2 Estonia3 Latvia4 Lithuania5 Conclusions8 The Regulation of Nationality in the Russian Federation1 Introduction2 The Constitutional Provisions3 The 1991 Law on Citizenship4 The Right of a Child to Russian Nationality5 Federal Law on State Policy Regarding Compatriots Abroad6 The 2002 Citizenship Law7 The 2023 Citizenship Law8 Commentary9 The Regulation of Nationality in International Law1 Introduction2 International Law Concept of Nationality3 The Historical Overview4 Modern Developments5 Relevant Customary International Law and General Principles of International Law6 The Effective Link Principle7 Validity of Nationality in International Law8 Conclusions10 The Regulation of Nationality in Situations of Territorial Change: Selected State Practice1 Introduction2 Principles Relating to Nationality in the Context of State Continuity3 Presumption of Continuity of Nationality4 Presumption of Automatic Change of Nationality5 Relevance of State Succession Categories in Nationality Matters6 Conclusions11 Conclusions Concerning Nationality Laws of the Baltic States and the Russian Federation1 The Russian Federation2 The Baltic StatesPART 4Human Rights12 Human Rights Aspects of the Regulation of Nationality1 Introduction2 The Right to a Nationality3 The Non-discrimination Rule4 The Principle of the Reduction of Statelessness5 Conclusions13 Human Rights Obligations of the Baltic States and Russia Applicable in Matters of Nationality1 Introduction2 Reception of International Human Rights Law in the National Legal Systems: Main Principles3 The Right to a Nationality4 The Non-discrimination Rule5 Reduction of Statelessness6 Conclusions14 Nationality Laws and Minority Rights in the Baltic States1 Introduction2 Minorities in the Baltic States: Overview3 Obligations Stemming from Minority Rights Relevant in Matters of Nationality4 Minority Rights of Non-nationals5 Future ChallengesPART 5General ConclusionsGeneral ConclusionsStatehoodState ContinuityNationalityHuman RightsThe Baltic StatesThe Russian FederationFinal RemarksBibliographyIndex

“Since the return of the Baltic States to independence, the development of their nationality law, the balancing of their claim to national unity and the rights to be granted to the Soviet-time settlers has been of the greatest concern for these countries as a matter both of secure existence and of human rights. The author of the present work, Judge Ineta Ziemele, has probably been the most influential individual contributor to this process, both in her academic work and in her role as a domestic as well as European Judge. In her book she thus reviews and updates a story to which she herself has been an actor. Putin’s restorative imperialism behind Russia ‘s war of aggression against Ukraine makes this book essential reading."Munich/The Hague, March 2025Bruno Simma, Emeritus Professor, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and a former judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).“It is great merit of Dr. Ziemele’s work that she locates the specific questions of interest to the Baltic States and their peoples within the general framework of international law. (..) The result is a valuable account both of the specific and the general."Cambridge, November 2005James Crawford†, at the time Whewell Professor of International Law, University of Cambridge