Citizens and nationals

In the constitutional law of foreign countries used the two terms: citizenship and nationality.

The first describes a person belonging to a particular state, its robust legal ties with their state, which gives rise to, on the one hand, certain rights and duties towards the state (for example, the right to equal access to public service and the obligation to pay taxes), and with the other - the rights and obligations of the state in relation to the citizen (for example, the right of the relevant public authorities or not to allow political mass street demonstrations, the duty to protect the right of private property).

Citizenship involves bilateral relations, bilateral rights and obligations and the individual, and the state. The term "nationality" is used in monarchies. It reflects the personal relationship between man and the monarch ("subject of His Majesty").

In developed countries, this difference is in fact only a verbal nature: the basis of the legal status of the individual in the monarchy of Great Britain are not much different from the situation in the Republic of France. Moreover, in the last decade in European monarchies, Japan and some other countries, the two terms are used interchangeably, but instead of citizenship is increasingly used the term "citizenship".

In some states the first term is generally excluded from the wide use and is applied only in special ceremonies. In developing countries, in the states of the Arab East, Africa, the distinction is significant: a citizen must be personally loyal to the monarch, the population is brought up in the respective traditions, often breach of loyalty could be severely punished.

The majority of the population in the countries of the world are citizens. In some European countries (Belgium, Switzerland, to a lesser extent Germany), home to a large number of foreigners make up a significant proportion of the labor force employed in the heavy, dirty, low-paying work.

In oil-producing countries of the Arab East (Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, etc.) contracted for several years oilfield workers (mainly from Asia) are often more than half the population of the country (in the UAE in the early 90's, their number reached 80%) . These workers tend to live in special places of settlement, all political activity and even economic strikes them banned.

Citizens of the state are also not the same in his position. Differ in the native-born and naturalized citizens of the country, ie taken citizenship in accordance with the procedure established by law. In some countries naturalized citizens can not be elected president (for example, in the U.S.), native-born citizens in this country can not send it out, denying citizenship, while naturalized - you can. In some countries (eg, Burma), there exists the concept of "associate citizens". These are persons belonging to certain ethnic groups, which are considered non-indigenous. Associated citizens must make a written declaration of loyalty to the state. In Muslim countries, there is also, as noted above, the difference in the legal status of citizens of male and female citizens.

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Maastricht in 1992, has transformed the European Community into the European Union, all citizens of the Member States are citizens of the European Union, while maintaining national citizenship.

They have long been elected by the European Parliament, can now participate in the municipal elections of members of the community, to petition the European Parliament and the Ombudsman for Human Rights. However, their legal status is not the same in different countries, it is mainly governed by domestic

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Constitutional law

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