British Citizenship by Birth
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41. Under the present law people born in the United Kingdom Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies by birth; the only exceptions are in accordance with standard practice, that is, the children of accredited diplomats and children of citizens of an enemy country which had occupied part of the United Kingdom (or of the Islands, as was the case in the Channel Islands between 1940 and 1945). The Green Paper did not suggest any change in the acquisition of British Citizenship in this way. Most people who referred to this in their comments on the Green Paper supported this view, although there were others who urged that a move should be made in the direction of the ius sanguinis by stipulating that a child neither of whose parents holds British Citizenship should not acquire it at birth.
42. The Government consider however that a move to the complete adoption of the ius sanguinis would have a serious effect on racial harmony. It would mean that children born in this country to parents who had settled here would not have our citizenship, and this could hinder their integration into the com- munity. But the Government are concerned about the children born here to parents neither of whom is a British Citizen, and neither of whom is free of conditions of stay. Births of this kind occur in a wide range of circumstances: not only for example, to the couple who are here in the country for a short stay, when the birth takes place unexpectedly early; but to others who are here for long periods, but temporarily, for example as students; and also to people who have remained here in breach of conditions of entry, or who have entered illegally. In many such circumstances there seems no real justification for continuing to allow the child to have our citizenship unless one of the parents is subsequently accepted for settlement here. It may indeed sometimes be the case that the acquisition of our citizenship will be something of a handicap to a child later in life when he has returned to his parents' country, if the law of that country requires him to renounce other citizenships by a certain time and he forgets to do so.
43. But the Government's main uneasiness on this score is that allowing birth to confer citizenship on such a child means also that after he returns with his parents to their country, his own children, born years later, will be British Citizens by descent. The additional British Citizens so created, with the right of abode here, would form a pool of considerable size, and they would have little or no real connection with the United Kingdom.
44. The Government think there is a good case for imposing some restriction. There would be some administrative and practical difficulties in doing so, and further study of these is being made. If the difficulties can be surmounted, the Government will propose in the Bill that the child of parents neither of whom is a British Citizen and neither of whom is free of conditions of stay, will not acquire British Citizenship solely by his birth here, though he would be entitled to registration if either parent was made free of conditions. In framing this pro- vision regard will be had, as elsewhere in the Bill, to the United Kingdom's obligations under the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.
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British Citizenship by Adoption
The present law provides that when an adoption is authorised by a coum this country and the adoptive parent is a Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies the child shall acquire that citizenship automatically as a result of the adoption. But where the adoption is a joint one by a husband and wife, the child acquires citizenship only if the adoptive father is a citizen.
46. In accordance with the Government's desire to move towards equality between the sexes in nationality matters the Bill will provide that where a court order is made in the United Kingdom authorising the joint adoption of a child by parents either of whom is a British Citizen, the child should be able to become a British Citizen.
47. The nationality law at present contains no provision for an adoption overseas to carry with it Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies. The immigration law gives the right of abode to a Commonwealth citizen child adopted in a country whose adoption law has been specified under section 4 of the Adoption Act 1968, by parents one of whom is a Citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies by birth in the United Kingdom.
48. It may be suggested that we should make provision for a child adopted overseas by parents who are British Citizens to be entitled to British Citizenship. There are arguments in favour of this. But one must bear in mind the likelihood that in some countries children would be adopted solely for the purpose of securing the right of admission to the United Kingdom; and the possibility in other cases (e.g. where the parents are settled overseas) that the child would be unlikely to have any future connection with the United Kingdom. Accordingly, the Bill will not contain any provision which will give an automatic entitlement to British Citizenship as a result of being adopted overseas. It will be possible for a child so adopted to be registered under the Secretary of State's general power to register minor children (see paragraphs 78 to 82 below); and in deciding an application all the circumstances of the child and his adoptive parents would be taken into account.
Transmission of Citizenship by Descent
49.
Under the present law Citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies is acquired by the legitimate child, born overseas, of a father who is a citizen by birth, adoption, registration or naturalisation in the United Kingdom. In addition it may be acquired by the child of the second and later generation born overseas:-
(a) if in each case the father is a citizen and is in Crown Service at the time of the birth; or
(b) if in each case the father is a citizen and the birth takes place in a foreign (not a Commonwealth) country and is registered at a British Consulate within 12 months (or later at the discretion of the Secretary of State).
50. The considerations affecting the acquisition of citizenship by children born abroad were discussed at some length in the Green Paper. The view expressed by the former Government was that as a general rule a new British Citizenship should not be transmitted beyond the first generation born abroad though they recognised that some circumstances might justify exceptions. A
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