Born free...

Shield

Hi legal experts.

What would happen if a baby were to be born when a ship is international waters, or a plane is flying through international airspace? Would the baby have the nationality of the destination country or the country of departure?

To make it more interesting, what if the plane was flying over, for example, Irish airspace, and a baby is born a flight from England to the USA?

Any answers that I'm getting from various different searches are quite vague and differ depending on which site you believe is true.

Thanks for any and all replies.

ResearchWill

13.—(1) A person born in an Irish ship or an Irish aircraft wherever it may be is deemed to be born in the island of Ireland

From http://www.inis.gov.ie/en/INIS/consolidationINCA.pdf/Files/consolidationINCA.pdf

That of itself will not confer citizenship, after the recent referendum. Each country will have its own rules, so there is no hard and fast rule, it would depend on the flag of the vessel and that countries rules, the nationality of the parents and any relevant countries attitude to dual citizenship if applicable.

So a child born on a Aer Lingus plane is considered born on the island of Ireland, but will only be a citizen if at least one parent has a connection to Ireland by length of legal residency or by citizenship.

Shield

Thanks for that answer ResearchWill. You've pretty much backed up what I had already assumed, and that was that it would change from country to country, and that there is no hard and fast rule. At any rate it's something that would rarely happen.

Thanks again.