Law on Privileges Granted to Haitians by Origin Holding Another Nationality and to Their Descendants

Before the constitutional amendment of 2011, Haitian law treated the acquisition of a foreign nationality as a loss of Haitian nationality, which placed several million people of Haitian origin abroad outside the rights attaching to citizenship - including, most consequentially, restrictions on owning property and on holding certain positions. This law is the intermediate solution the legislature adopted: rather than restoring nationality, it grants a defined set of privileges to Haitians by origin holding another nationality and to their descendants. It amends the regime set by the law of 16 June 1975 as modified by the law of 20 September 1979, and cites article 96 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Given the weight of diaspora remittances in the Haitian economy and the long political argument over the diaspora's civic position, this is a text that has to be read to understand what changed in 2011 and what did not. Published in Le Moniteur, 157th year, No. 65, Monday 12 August 2002.