Nottebohm (Liechtenstein v.

Guatemala)

Liechtenstein v. Guatemala is the proper name for the 1955 contentious case
adjudicated by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Liechtenstein sought a ruling
to force Guatemalan recognition of Friedrich Nottebohm as a Liechtenstein national.

Nottebohm, born September 16, 1881 in Hamburg, Germany, possessed German

citizenship. Although he lived in Guatemala from 1905 until 1943 he never became
a citizen of Guatemala. In October 9, 1939, Nottebohm applied to become a
naturalized citizen of Liechtenstein. The application was approved under exceptional
circumstances and he became a citizen of Liechtenstein. He then returned to
Guatemala on his Liechtenstein passport and informed the local government of his
change of nationality. When he tried to return to Guatemala once again in 1943 he
was refused entry as an enemy alien since the Guatemalan authorities did not
recognise his naturalisation and regarded him as still German. It has been
suggested that the timing of the event was due to the recent entry of the US and
Guatemala into the Second World War.

He was later extradited to the US where he was held at an internment camp until
the end of the war. All his possessions in Guatemala were confiscated. After his
release, he lived out the rest of his life in Liechtenstein.

Background of the ICJ case

The Government of Liechtenstein granted Nottebohm protection against unjust

treatment by the government of Guatemala and petitioned the International Court
of Justice. However, the government of Guatemala argued that Nottebohm did not
gain Liechtenstein citizenship for the purposes of international law. The court
agreed and thus stopped the case from continuing.

Decision

Although the Court stated that it is the sovereign right of all states to determine its
own citizens and criteria for becoming one in municipal law, such a process would
have to be scrutinized on the international plain in questions of diplomatic
protection. The Court upheld the principle of effective nationality, (the Nottebohm
principle) where the national must prove a meaningful connection to the state in
question. This principle was previously applied only in cases of dual nationality to
determine which nationality should be used in a given case. However Nottebohm
had forfeited his German nationality and thus only had the nationality of
Liechtenstein. The question arises, who then had the power to grant Nottebohm
diplomatic protection?

The Nottebohm case was subsequently cited in many definitions of nationality.