60
146. To register their births in the Registry Office, the children Dilcia Yean and
Violeta Bosico were asked to comply with the eleven requirements listed in the
attachment to the State’s communication to the Inter-American Commission of
September 30, 1999, or the twelve requirements indicated in the decision issued by
the Public Prosecutor of the Judicial District of Monte Plata on July 20, 1998 (supra
paras. 109(18) and 109(20)). In other words, the birth certificates were not granted
owing to the children’s failure to comply with the presentation of the eleven or
twelve requirements demanded by the said State officials. However, in its final
written arguments, the State indicated that they should have presented three
documents to the Registrar on March 5, 1997, and they did not do this (supra para.
109(16)). From the foregoing we can conclude that the State adopted different
positions regarding the requirements the children had to fulfill while the case was
being processed before the Inter-American System for the protection of human
rights. This situation shows that there are no standard criteria for demanding and
applying the requirements for late birth registration of children under 13 years of age
in the Dominican Republic.
147. Following the meeting held by the Commission in the Dominican Republic on
August 24, 2001, in the exercise of its jurisdiction, the State informed Leonidas
Oliven Yean and Tiramen Bosico Cofi that they should register the births of their
daughters, and on September 25, 2001, the Dominican Republic granted birth
certificates to the Yean and Bosico children and, consequently, on this date it
granted them Dominican nationality (supra paras. 109(32) and 109(33)).
*
*
*
148. In the Dominican Republic, nationality is regulated in the Constitution
promulgated on August 14, 1994, in force at the time of the facts. Article 11 of the
Constitution establishes that Dominicans are:
All persons who were born in the territory of the Republic, except for the legitimate
children of foreign diplomats resident in the country or foreigners who are in transit.
[…]
149.
Also, article 9 of the Civil Code stipulates
Dominicans are:
First – All persons who have been born or will be born on the territory of the Republic,
whatsoever the nationality of their parents.
For the effects of this provision, the legitimate children of foreigners resident in the
country either representing or serving their own country shall not be considered as
having been born in the territory of the Republic.
[…]
150. As can be inferred from article 11 of the Constitution, the Dominican Republic
has established the principle of ius soli to determine those who have a right to
nationality. Nevertheless, in order to acquire this nationality by birth, the child may
not be included in one of the constitutional exceptions, which refer to the children of
diplomats or foreigners who are in the country in transit.
151. The Court will not examine the first exception concerning the children of
diplomats, because the facts of the instant case do not relate to this.
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