Article 17 — Prevention of Statelessness

1. 1.

   The State shall, in applying this Code and exercising the sovereign prerogative, avoid rendering any person stateless.

2. 2.

   Where a person who would otherwise be stateless is born to a Kaharagian national, that person acquires Kaharagian nationality by descent under Article 8, regardless of the nationality laws of any other state.

3. 3.

   A person who is stateless and who has a genuine and effective link to the Kaharagian community may apply to the Sovereign, through the Royal Chancellery, for admission to nationality by grant under Article 11. The Royal Chancellery shall give priority to such applications.

4. 4.

   No decree terminating nationality shall be made where the sole effect would be to render the person stateless, except as expressly provided in Article 15, paragraph 4, and Article 16, paragraph 2.

5. 5.

   In interpreting and applying this Code, the organs of the State shall have regard to the principles of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and other applicable instruments of international law, to the extent that they are consistent with the Fundamental Laws and the sovereign prerogatives of the State.