## Facts

- Friedrich (Federico) Nottebohm was born in Germany in 1881 and was originally a German national.
- He moved to Guatemala in 1905, lived there for about 34 years, and built substantial business and personal ties there; he never became a Guatemalan national.
- In October 1939, shortly after World War II began, Nottebohm sought expedited naturalization in Liechtenstein while visiting; Liechtenstein waived its usual residence requirements and granted nationality on October 9, 1939, causing loss of his German nationality under German law.
- In January 1940, Nottebohm returned to Guatemala on a Liechtenstein passport and reported his new nationality.
- After Guatemala declared war on Germany in December 1941, it treated Nottebohm as a German enemy alien; he was arrested in 1943, transferred to U.S. authorities and interned until 1946, and his property in Guatemala was seized and later confiscated.
- Liechtenstein instituted proceedings in 1951 seeking restitution and compensation, asserting that Guatemala’s detention, expulsion, and property measures violated international law.

## Issues

1. Whether Liechtenstein’s grant of nationality to Nottebohm was opposable to Guatemala for purposes of allowing Liechtenstein to exercise diplomatic protection.
2. Whether international law requires a “real and effective” nationality or “genuine link” between the individual and the protecting state before diplomatic protection may be asserted against a state disputing that nationality.

## Decision

- The ICJ held Liechtenstein’s claim inadmissible because Nottebohm’s Liechtenstein nationality lacked the genuine connection required for opposability to Guatemala in a diplomatic protection claim.
- The Court accepted that nationality is determined by each state’s domestic law, but held that the international obligation of other states to recognize a nationality is governed by international law when disputed.
- Given Nottebohm’s long, settled life and principal interests in Guatemala and only minimal prior ties to Liechtenstein, the Court found the naturalization did not reflect a real attachment.
- The Court declined to decide the merits of Liechtenstein’s allegations about Guatemala’s wartime detention and confiscations because the threshold basis for diplomatic protection was not established.

## Legal Principles

- Diplomatic protection generally depends on the bond of nationality between the state and the individual; that bond supplies the state’s title to present an international claim.
- A state’s conferral of nationality, though valid domestically, is entitled to recognition by other states only if it reflects a genuine connection between the individual and the state.
- “Nationality” is treated as a legal bond grounded in a social fact of attachment—connection of existence, interests, and sentiments—entailing reciprocal rights and duties.
- When a respondent state disputes the claimant state’s nationality of the individual, the court may assess whether the nationality asserted has a real and effective character sufficient to be opposable in international proceedings.

## Conclusion

The ICJ refused to allow Liechtenstein to pursue diplomatic protection for Nottebohm against Guatemala because his expedited naturalization in Liechtenstein, undertaken amid wartime conditions and unsupported by meaningful prior social or economic ties, lacked the genuine link required for international opposability.


Nottebohm Case (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala), 1955 I.C.J. 4 (Apr. 6)