The President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, has signed the presidential decree promulgating a law on the withdrawal of Algerian nationality. Published in the latest Official Journal, this new text, which amends and supplements Ordinance No. 70-86, primarily aims to adapt the legal framework to security changes and contemporary threats, while affirming the sovereign nature of nationality.
The law precisely defines the situations in which a citizen can be stripped of Algerian nationality, whether acquired or by origin. It immediately establishes the principle that “any person who has acquired Algerian nationality” can be deprived of it if they are subject to a judicial conviction for “a crime or offense that harms Algeria’s vital interests, national unity, or state security.”
Also targeted are individuals convicted, in Algeria or abroad, for a crime carrying a sentence “equal to or greater than five years’ imprisonment.” However, the legislator introduces a double temporal safeguard: the acts must have been committed “within ten years from the date of acquisition of nationality,” and the deprivation decision cannot be issued “beyond five years from the commission of the acts.”
Furthermore, the law explicitly targets behaviors adopted abroad. It provides that any Algerian can be stripped of nationality, including by origin, against whom there exist “serious and concordant indications” establishing that they have acted, outside national territory, “in a manner that causes serious harm to Algeria’s interests, national unity, state security, or the stability of its institutions.”
The text lists a series of situations considered particularly grave. These include “declaring or unambiguously manifesting loyalty to a foreign state to the detriment of Algeria,” “accepting funds or benefits from a foreign power with the aim of harming national interests,” or “providing services or assistance to foreign military or security forces.”
Cooperation with “a state or entity hostile to Algeria” is also included among the grounds for deprivation, as is participation, in any form, in “a terrorist or subversive organization, whatever its name.” Directing, joining, financing, or propagating in favor of such structures are explicitly targeted.
In cases where the acts are committed on national territory and the perpetrator is a fugitive abroad, the law also allows for deprivation of nationality by origin.
Special attention is given to dual nationals. The text stipulates that “a native Algerian holding another nationality” can be stripped if they have used that nationality “to harm Algerian nationality or the state’s supreme interests.” Likewise, “exploiting a foreign nationality, whether by origin or acquired, with the aim of harming Algeria” constitutes an express ground for deprivation.
The legislator emphasizes, however, the “exceptional” nature of this measure when it concerns nationality by origin. It is clearly established that a native Algerian “can only be deprived of their nationality if they hold another nationality,” to avoid any statelessness.
This guarantee has an exception, however, in cases of “treason, espionage on behalf of a foreign power, bearing arms against Algeria, harm to territorial integrity, or membership in terrorist organizations,” which escape the protection linked to dual nationality, in accordance with current criminal legislation.
Furthermore, it is specified that before any final decision, the law provides for “an official warning” sent to the individual concerned. They are given a period “between fifteen and sixty days” to comply with the authorities’ injunction or to submit their observations.
Notification can be made by any legal means, including “electronic means.” In case of impossibility of direct notification, it can be published in “two national newspapers, one in a foreign language,” thus ensuring wide publicity for the measure.
It should be noted that the law text takes care to state in black and white that deprivation of nationality by origin “constitutes an exceptional measure, limited to the cases exhaustively listed by the law and surrounded by the guarantees provided therein.” The authorities also highlight a balance between “protecting the nation’s supreme interests” and “respecting the legal principles governing nationality.” Through this reform, the state asserts its will to draw clear red lines against acts of treason, collaboration with hostile entities, or harm to national unity. Nationality, the foundation of the legal and political bond between the individual and the nation, is thus reaffirmed as a reciprocal commitment based on loyalty and the preservation of the country’s fundamental interests.