British Nationality Act 1981
Encyclopedia : B : BR : BRI : British Nationality Act 1981
| British & Commonwealth citizenship
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Commonwealth nationality laws
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One of these was to reclassify "United Kingdom and Colonies citizens" into three categories: British citizenship; British Dependent Territory citizenship and British Overseas citizenship.
The Act also moved the definition of British Citizenship away from the concept of jus soli to jus sanguinis. Prior to the Act coming into force, the vast majority of those born in Britain, (with limited exceptions such as children of diplomats) were entitiled to British Citizenship, after the Act came into force, citizenship was generally transmitted by the parents. The Act also allowed mothers as well as fathers to pass on British Citizenship to their children.
The Act came into force on 1 January 1983, effectively renaming the status of British (Crown) Colony as Dependent Territory.
Critics argued that one of the main political motivations behind the new law was to deny most Hong Kong-born Chinese people the right of residency in the United Kingdom in the time preceding the Sino-British Joint Declaration in 1985 and later the hand-over of Hong Kong (then the largest British Colony), to Chinese sovereignty in 1997. After the handover of Hong Kong, British Dependent Territory citizens were given the right of abode in the United Kingdom.
Main article: History of British nationality law
See also
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