Aim: The aim of this study is to examine how sanctions – as a legal consequence – can be interpreted in a specific administrative procedure such as citizenship administration. On the other hand, the study analyses how citizenship-related legal consequences can be interpreted in the actual citizenship law.
Methodology: The study attempts to perform a comparative legal assessment of the loss of citizenship rights under previous and current citizenship laws. The author relied on the available literature as well as on her own professional experience, to a small extent with statistical analysis.
Findings: Due to the intensification of migration processes, a number of concepts known and used in citizenship law have come to the fore, such as state sovereignty, civil security or danger to society. As a result, well-known legal institutions in national law may be given a new interpretation, which may significantly change their role in the legal system. While historical title of deprivation of citizenship is generally known to have a punitive nature, mostly in a political sense that differs from the legal consequences, the revocation of citizenship has a different sanctioning content. The typical environment of the given age (social, geographical, economic, military, religious, etc.) has always provoked a reaction from the legislator, and this is no different today. There are traditionally legal consequences of sanctions in the Hungarian citizenship administration.
Value: The study detects and analyzes the need for sanctions in the jurisdiction. It formulates innovative ideas based on the relevant Hungarian laws and foreign examples, which can be further expanded in the future.