Beninese nationality law

Summary

Beninese nationality law is regulated by the Constitution of Benin, as amended; the Beninese (formerly Dahomean) Nationality Code, and its revisions; the Family Code; and various international agreements to which the country is a signatory.[1] These laws determine who is, or is eligible to be, a national of Benin.[2] The legal means to acquire nationality, formal legal membership in a nation, differ from the domestic relationship of rights and obligations between a national and the nation, known as citizenship.[3][4] Beninese nationality is typically obtained under the principle of jus sanguinis, i.e. by birth in Benin or abroad to parents with Beninese nationality.[5] It can be granted to persons with an affiliation to the country, or to a permanent resident who has lived in the country for a given period of time through naturalisation.[6]

Dahomean Nationality Code
Parliament of Benin
  • Code de la nationalité dahoméenne
Enacted byGovernment of Benin
Status: Current legislation

Acquisition of nationality edit

Nationality can be acquired in Benin through birth or naturalization.[7]

By birth edit

  • Children born anywhere who have at least one parent who is a native-born Beninese national;[8][Notes 1]
  • Children born in Benin to foreign parents, if the parents were not in the diplomatic corps, who have resided and at the age of majority are residing in the country, acquire nationality by origin;[10][11]
  • Children born in Benin to stateless parents; or[10]
  • Foundlings or orphans discovered in the territory.[12]

By naturalization edit

Naturalization can be granted to persons who have resided in the territory for a sufficient period of time to confirm they understand the customs and traditions of the society. General provisions are that applicants be of good character and in good health, have no criminal history of sentencing greater than one year, and are able to speak either the Beninois or French language. If nationality is being considered for exceptional service to the nation, there can be no limiting conditions. The general residency requirement is ten years,[13] but in the case of a foreign spouse, or someone born in Benin, the residency requirement is waived. Besides foreigners meeting the criteria,[14] other persons who may be naturalized include:

  • Spouses of Beninese nationals;[15][11]
  • Adoptees of Beninese parents upon reaching the age of majority;[16][11]
  • The wife and minor children of a foreigner who has been naturalized; or[11]
  • Persons who have rendered exceptional service to the country.[14][11]

Loss of nationality edit

Nationality may be lost in Benin for acting in the service of a foreign government or as a national of another country; crimes against the state or ordinary crimes; fraud in a naturalization petition, or disloyal or treasonous acts.[17]

Dual nationality edit

In an effort to eliminate statelessness, Benin allows dual nationality if the person obtained authorization for the acquisition of additional nationality.[18]

History edit

African kingdoms (1600–1894) edit

The area which is now Benin was, by the seventeenth century, governed by several kingdoms, including Dahomey and its related kingdoms of Allada and Whydah of the Fon people; Porto Novo of the Ogu people and Kétu of the Yoruba people, which were tributary kingdoms of the Oyo Empire; and Borgu of the Bariba people.[19] Though these kingdoms often warred with their neighbors to consolidate their territories, they also established trade and vassalage systems to secure goods.[20][21] European contact with the area began around 1580 when the Portuguese landed at Ouidah. Trade relationships were established initially between the inhabitants and Dutch and Portuguese traders, but by 1623 included French settlers and by 1670 English merchants as well.[22] Each of these kingdoms were highly organized states wherein political and economic privilege was granted by the ruler who in turn was owed tributes and allegiance for his protection and favor.[23][24][25] Based upon kinship and ancestral linkages, conquest was undertaken to broaden the ties between ancestors and was not focused on conquering foreigners.[26][27] Marriage was regulated by kinship networks and children born to subjects belonged to the royal lineage of the kingdoms.[28]

In 1698 the Oyo Empire overtook the Allada kingdom, which in turn was conquered by Dahomey in 1724.[29][27] In 1727, Dahomey subjugated Whydah, as well as the port city of Ouidah.[29] Between 1724 and 1730, conflict between the Oyo kingdoms and Dahomey erupted four times. The battle in 1730 resulted in an agreement for Dahomey to pay tributes to Oyo. With a change in the ruler in 1735, Dahomey attacked territories held by the Oyo, but were driven back and agreed to reinstate the annual tributes to Oyo in 1748.[30] By 1780, the kingdom of Porto Novo had grown to rival the ports of Whydah.[31] The Borgu army defeated Oyo in 1783, precipitating Oyo's rapid decline.[32] Beginning in 1818, Dahomey returned to its role as dominant kingdom on the coast and in 1823, defeated Oyo and ended the debt for tribute.[33][34] Ongoing conflicts continued into the 19th century when in 1886, Dahomey took Kétu and the following year sacked Yoruba villages to the north and east.[35] However, by that time, European traders increasingly resented the duties collected and fees charged to enter and exit ports. In 1883, the French established a permanent protectorate over Porto Novo bringing France into direct competition with the Dahomey kingdom for control of Porto Novo.[36] After diplomatic talks failed to resolve the issues over administration of Porto Novo and tariffs, armed fighting broke out in 1890 and again in 1892. Behanzin surrendered on 25 January 1894 and was deposed from the throne of Dahomey.[37]

French period (1894–1960) edit

Upon taking control of area, the French divided the former kingdom into two protectorates with the Dahomey protectorate centered in Abomey and the Mahi protectorate located to its north. The southern kingdoms, Allada, Grand-Popo, Whydah, were allowed to maintain their independence as long as they did not align with the Fon people who had formerly dominated the Dahomey kingdom.[38] In 1895, the French established the administration system that would govern its possessions in West Africa for the next sixty years. A Governor-General was installed and a headquarters was founded in Dakar, in the Colony of Senegal.[39] The Governor-General's authority was extended to Senegal, Guinea, and the Ivory Coast colonies, and in 1899 to Dahomey and French Sudan.[40] Under Article 109 of the French Constitution of 1848, French territories were to be governed by specific laws until the constitution was extended there. This provision laid the groundwork for nationality legislation based upon whether the native inhabitants were able to be assimilated by adopting European standards.[41] From 1848, those persons who settled in the colonies and were from France were considered nationals who had full rights and were subject to French law. However, those born in the new territories were considered to be nationals without citizenship.[42] Nationals in the older colonies of the Antilles, Guiana, Réunion and parts of India and Senegal were granted political rights, but those in new colonies were confirmed by a decree on 14 July 1865 to be subjects and not citizens, unless they renounced their allegiance to native custom and possessed sufficient understanding of the obligations of citizenship.[43][44]

Also in 1848, slavery was abolished throughout the French Empire[45] and the Civil Code was extended to all of the French citizens in the colonies. Under the Civil Code, women were legally incapacitated and paternal authority was established over their children.[46][47] Upon marriage, a woman married to a French man automatically acquired the same nationality as her spouse.[48] Illegitimate children were barred from inheritance and nationality could only be transmitted through a father.[49][50] Non-citizen nationals were governed by traditional laws concerning marriage and inheritance which placed the well-being of the community above individual rights.[51] These laws prevented a wife from being treated as a slave, required her husband to support her, and entitled her kin to a bride price, to compensate them for the loss of her fertility to their kinship group and secure the legality of the union. Having paid the price for the marriage contract, she and her offspring belonged to the kinship network of her husband and could be inherited if her husband died.[52]

The French Nationality Law of 1889 codified previous statutory laws, changing the French standard from jus sanguinis to jus soli and was extended to the French West Indies.[53] Under its terms, women who would become stateless by the rule to acquire their spouse's nationality were allowed to retain their French nationality upon marriage.[54] The Nationality Law was modified in 1897 when it was extended to the remainder of the French colonies.[55] Clarification in the 1897 decree included that bestowing nationality by birth in French territory only applied to children born in France, restoring descent requirements for the colonies.[53] Under the Code de l'indigénat (Code of Indigenous Status) promulgated for Algeria in 1881 and extended to French West Africa in 1904, nationals in the new colonies followed customary law.[56][57][58] The French West African Federation had been founded that year with the existing five colonies, of Dahomey, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Sudan, and was later expanded to include Mauritania, Niger, and Upper Volta.[59]

On 25 May 1912, a Décret N°. 27892 was issued specifically addressing the status of French West Africans.[60][61] Under its terms, African subjects could acquire French citizenship if at the age of majority and having proved three years of established domicile in the territory, they were able to read and write French; they were of good character and assimilated to French culture, or they engaged in a public or private French enterprise for a minimum or ten years; and they had sufficient means of self-support. The language requirement could be waived for those who had received military medals or recognition of the Legion of Honor or were in the French civil service. Upon application, subjects were required to acknowledge that they gave up their personal status under customary law and were to be governed by French laws.[60] The decree noted that married women and minor children acquired the status of their husband or father however, this was only the case if the marriage had been conducted under French law, rather than customary practice.[62]

Following the end of World War I France passed a law, "Décret N°. 24 on 25 March 1915 that allowed subjects or protected persons who were non-citizen nationals and had established domicile in a French territory to acquire full citizenship, including the naturalization of their wives and minor children, by having received the cross of the Legion of Honor, having obtained a university degree, having rendered service to the nation, having attained the rank of an officer or received a medal from the French army, who had married a Frenchwoman and established a one year residency; or who had resided for more than ten years in a colony other than their country of origin.[63][64][65] A 1918 decree written for French West Africa was aimed at decorated veterans of the war and their families, providing they had not previously been denied their rights nor participated in actions against French rule.[66][67] Even with these laws, only eleven Dahomean men naturalized with full French citizenship between 1920 and 1930.[68]

In 1927, France passed a new Nationality Law, which under Article 8, removed the requirement for married women to automatically derive the nationality of a husband and provided that her nationality could only be changed if she consented to change her nationality.[69] It also allowed children born in France to native-born French women married to foreigners to acquire their nationality from their mothers.[70] When it was implemented it included Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion but was extended to the remaining French possessions for French citizens only in 1928.[54][71] Under Article 26 of the 1928 decree was the stipulation that it did not apply to natives of the French possessions except Algeria, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion.[72] A decade later, the legal incapacity of married women was finally invalidated for French citizens.[73] In 1939, France determined that marriage and inheritance were too significant to continue being dealt with in native courts. That year, the Mandel Decree [fr] was enacted in French West Africa as well as French Equatorial Africa. Under its terms child marriage was discouraged. It established the minimum age at marriage as fourteen for women and sixteen for men, invalidated marriages wherein spouses did not consent, and nullified levirate marriage without approval of the woman.[74]

At the end of World War II, a statute issued on 7 March 1944 granted French citizenship to those who had performed services to the nation, such as serving as civil servants or receiving recognitions.[75] The Constitution of 1946 granted French citizenship to all subjects of France's territories without having to renounce their personal status as natives.[75][76] In 1945, a new Code of French Nationality was passed, which conferred once again automatic French nationality on foreign wives of French men, but allowed mothers who were French nationals to pass their nationality to children born outside of France.[77] It expressly applied to Algeria, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion and was extended to the Overseas Territories in 1953, but in the case of the latter had distinctions for the rights of those who were naturalized.[78] In 1951 the Jacquinot Decree strengthened the provisions in French West and Equatorial Africa of the Mandel decree removing women who were twenty-one years old, or divorced, from control by a father or guardian and establishing specific rules for the payment and determining the amount of a bride price.[79] That year, Dahomey was allowed to elect two deputies for France's National Assembly.[80]

The legal framework of Dahomey was changed by a statute issued on 23 June 1956, which granted internal self-governance to French territories and expanded their Territorial Assemblies.[81] These changes led to an increase in political activity and a press for the dissolution of the Federation of French West Africa.[82][83] During the conventions to discuss the 1958 French Constitution opinion in Dahomey was divided as to whether they should refuse to remain in union with France or seek independence. When the public vote was held, Dahomey voted to remain French.[84] With the passage of the 1958 Constitution, nationality provisions were standardized for France, Overseas Departments, and Overseas Territories.[77] Article 86 excluded the possibility for independence of the colonies.[85] In January 1959, a constituent assembly was called to discuss building a new African federation including Dahomey, Mali, Senegal, Soudan and Upper Volta.[86] Within a month, Dahomey withdrew from the federation talks and drafted its own constitution, remaining within the French fold.[87] In 1960, President Charles de Gaulle endorsed the independence of the Mali Federation, which included Senegal and Sudan, without the imposition of economic sanctions. This led to a quest for independence in the Ivory Coast and Madagascar. As the British Protected states of Nigeria and British Togoland were due to gain independence that year as well, Dahomey weighed and debated its own independence.[88] In June 1960, negotiations began with Paris to secure independence.[89]

Post-independence (1960–present) edit

Dahomey gained independence from France on 1 August 1960, though until 1972 suffered from the instability caused by six Coups d'état.[90] The first constitution was suspended in 1963[91] and a commission was established to develop a replacement. The new constitution was approved by referendum in January 1964.[92] Within months, it was also suspended and consultation to draft a new constitution was created.[93] In 1965, Dahomey drafted its own nationality code, which carried provisions for legitimate children to inherit nationality from fathers and only illegitimate children to derive their mother's nationality. It also specified differences in how a spouse could acquire nationality.[94][95][11] A plebiscite adopted the new constitution in 1968, but in 1969 and again in 1972 military coups overturned the government and established military rule.[96] In 1975, a new constitution was adopted on a socialist model and changed the name of the country from the Republic of Dahomey to the People's Republic of Benin.[97]

In 1990, the a new Constitution was promulgated, when the nation shifted from a socialist republic to a democracy.[98][95] The change in governance resulted in a call for the Nationality and Family Codes to be updated.[98][95] In 1996, the Constitutional Court declared the previous family legislation, Coutumier du Dahomey (Customary Law of Dahomey) dating from 1931, unenforceable. Work began to change the Family Code, to promote equality in the rights and obligations of parents and change marriage and inheritance rules.[99] Failure of the National Assembly to pass the new family regulations, prompted activists from Women in Law & Development in Africa-Bénin to launch a campaign to force a vote on the issue.[100] Though passed in 2002, the new Family Code did not go in to force until 2004.[101][102] A commission to update the Nationality Code was established in 2005.[95] That year, the International Court of Justice resolved a dispute between Benin and Niger regarding 25 islands of the Niger River bordering both countries. Benin was awarded 16 of the islands but has made no provisions to extend nationality to the inhabitants of these territories.[103] In 2014, provisions in the Nationality Code that were gender discriminatory were declared unconstitutional by the Benin Constitutional Court. Though the Code had not been amended in 2017,[94] and was still being discussed in 2021, Article 124 of the 1990 Constitution of Benin rendered the discriminatory provisions unenforceable.[104][105][Notes 2]

Notes edit

  1. ^ In the case of a child, who has derived nationality from its mother, the nationality may be renounced at the age of majority.[9]
  2. ^ The 1990 Constitution was amended in 2019; however, changes made had to do with creation of a position for vice-president, election reform, the process for ratifying international conventions, quotas for women to serve in the legislature, and suspending the death penalty. The African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights called for the changes to be annulled.[106]

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ Manby 2015, pp. 13–14.
  2. ^ Manby 2015, p. 110.
  3. ^ Fransman 2011, p. 4.
  4. ^ Rosas 1994, p. 34.
  5. ^ Manby 2015, p. 15.
  6. ^ Manby 2015, pp. 5, 24.
  7. ^ Manby 2015, pp. 15, 24.
  8. ^ Manby 2015, pp. 15–16.
  9. ^ Manby 2015, pp. 16, 18.
  10. ^ a b Manby 2015, p. 18.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Code of Dahomean Nationality 1965.
  12. ^ Manby 2015, pp. 18–19.
  13. ^ "Dual Citizenship Benin". www.dualcitizenship.com. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  14. ^ a b Manby 2015, p. 24.
  15. ^ Manby 2015, p. 22.
  16. ^ Manby 2015, p. 14.
  17. ^ Manby 2015, p. 29.
  18. ^ Manby 2015, p. 26.
  19. ^ Ronen 1975, p. 5.
  20. ^ Ronen 1975, p. 13.
  21. ^ Morton-Williams 1964, p. 25.
  22. ^ Ronen 1975, p. 16.
  23. ^ Pemberton III 1989, p. 155.
  24. ^ Bay 2012, p. 13.
  25. ^ Agiri 1975, p. 10.
  26. ^ Ronen 1975, p. 21.
  27. ^ a b Akinjogbin 1966, p. 451.
  28. ^ Bay 2012, p. 14.
  29. ^ a b Ronen 1975, p. 18.
  30. ^ Akinjogbin 1966, p. 452.
  31. ^ Akinjogbin 1966, p. 457.
  32. ^ Lipschutz & Rasmussen 1989, p. 2.
  33. ^ Law 1986, pp. 242, 252.
  34. ^ Adloff 1964, p. 122.
  35. ^ Parrinder 1967, p. 73.
  36. ^ Newbury 1959, p. 146.
  37. ^ Newbury 1959, p. 148.
  38. ^ Newbury 1959, p. 149.
  39. ^ Adloff 1964, p. 126.
  40. ^ Adloff 1964, p. 161.
  41. ^ Reestman 1999, pp. 18–19.
  42. ^ Grandmaison 2006, pp. 38–39.
  43. ^ Saada 2012, pp. 100–101.
  44. ^ Semley 2014, pp. 268–269.
  45. ^ Adloff 1964, p. 125.
  46. ^ Cottias 2005, p. 236.
  47. ^ Niort 2007, p. 31.
  48. ^ Donner 1994, p. 207.
  49. ^ Niort 2007, p. 32.
  50. ^ Bertossi 2010, p. 3.
  51. ^ Dobkin de Rios 1968, p. 392.
  52. ^ Dobkin de Rios 1968, pp. 392–393.
  53. ^ a b Saada 2012, p. 101.
  54. ^ a b Plender 1974, p. 711.
  55. ^ Plender 1974, p. 717.
  56. ^ Grandmaison 2006, p. 42.
  57. ^ Saada 2012, pp. 103–104.
  58. ^ Merle 2002, pp. 91, 93.
  59. ^ Adloff 1964, pp. 2, 161.
  60. ^ a b Opoku 1974, p. 142.
  61. ^ Semley 2014, p. 269.
  62. ^ Opoku 1974, pp. 143, 144.
  63. ^ Flournoy & Hudson 1929, pp. 270–271.
  64. ^ Bousquet 1953, p. 602.
  65. ^ Semley 2014, pp. 268, 282.
  66. ^ Semley 2014, p. 284.
  67. ^ Opoku 1974, p. 143.
  68. ^ Semley 2014, p. 279.
  69. ^ Camiscioli 1999, p. 53.
  70. ^ Camiscioli 1999, p. 57.
  71. ^ Flournoy & Hudson 1929, p. 257.
  72. ^ Flournoy & Hudson 1929, pp. 257, 268.
  73. ^ Camiscioli 1999, p. 56.
  74. ^ Dobkin de Rios 1968, pp. 395–396.
  75. ^ a b André 2016, p. 101.
  76. ^ Opoku 1974, p. 151.
  77. ^ a b Plender 1974, p. 713.
  78. ^ Plender 1974, pp. 717–718.
  79. ^ Dobkin de Rios 1968, p. 396.
  80. ^ Ronen 1984, p. 14.
  81. ^ Staniland 1973, p. 494.
  82. ^ Ronen 1975, pp. 107–108.
  83. ^ Staniland 1973, pp. 495–496.
  84. ^ Ronen 1975, pp. 115–116.
  85. ^ Ronen 1975, p. 109.
  86. ^ Ronen 1975, p. 118.
  87. ^ Ronen 1975, p. 119.
  88. ^ Ronen 1975, pp. 122–123.
  89. ^ Ronen 1975, p. 125.
  90. ^ Ronen 1975, pp. 2, 122.
  91. ^ Ronen 1984, p. 20.
  92. ^ Ronen 1984, p. 21.
  93. ^ Ronen 1984, p. 22.
  94. ^ a b Manby 2018, p. 99.
  95. ^ a b c d Government of Benin 2017.
  96. ^ Ronen 1984, pp. 24, 26.
  97. ^ Ronen 1975, p. 40.
  98. ^ a b Boko Nadjo 2004, p. 1.
  99. ^ Boko Nadjo 2004, p. 2.
  100. ^ Boko Nadjo 2004, p. 3.
  101. ^ Boko Nadjo 2004, p. 4.
  102. ^ Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada 2013.
  103. ^ Manby 2015, p. 70.
  104. ^ Badarou 2021.
  105. ^ Matthews 1990, p. 27.
  106. ^ Zounmenou 2020.

Bibliography edit

  • Adloff, Richard (1964). West Africa: The French Speaking Nations Yesterday and Today. New York, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. OCLC 467154.
  • Agiri, B.A. (1975). "Early Oyo History Reconsidered". History in Africa. 2. Waltham, Massachusetts: Cambridge University Press for the African Studies Association: 1–16. doi:10.2307/3171463. ISSN 0361-5413. JSTOR 3171463. OCLC 772622117. S2CID 161955293. Retrieved 7 July 2021. – via Cambridge Core (subscription required)
  • Akinjogbin, I. A. (December 1966). "The Oyo Empire in the 18th Century–A Reassessment". Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria. 3 (3). Ibadan, Nigeria: Historical Society of Nigeria: 449–460. ISSN 0018-2540. JSTOR 41856706. OCLC 5545106755. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  • André, Marc (June 2016). "Algerian Women in France: What Kind of Citizenship? (1930s–1960s)". Clio. Women, Gender, History. 43 (1). Translated by Tomlinson, Helen. Toulouse, France: Éditions Belin: 95–117. ISSN 1252-7017. JSTOR 26242544. OCLC 7290793879. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  • Badarou, Aziz (13 January 2021). "Réformes sur l'état civil et adoption d'un nouveau code de nationalité: Amnesty œuvre pour la prise en compte de la question d'apatridie" [Civil Status Reforms and Adoption of a New Nationality Code: Amnesty Works to Take the Issue of Statelessness into Account]. Matin Libre (in French). Cotonou, Benin. Archived from the original on 12 January 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  • Bay, Edna G. (2012). Wives of the Leopard: Gender, Politics, and Culture in the Kingdom of Dahomey. Charlottesville, Virginia: University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-2386-4.
  • Bertossi, Christophe (April 2010). "Report on Citizenship Law: France" (PDF). cadmus.eui.eu. Badia Fiesolana: European University Institute. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  • Boko Nadjo, Geneviève (October 2004). Le code des personnes et de la famille béninois [The Beninese Personal and Family Code] (PDF). Forum des ONG à Addis Abeba, Éthiopie les 6–7 octobre 2004 [NGO Forum, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 6–7 October 2004] (in French). Harare, Zimbabwe: Women in Law & Development in Africa. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 June 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  • Bousquet, G. H. (October 1953). "How the Natives of Algeria Became French Citizens". International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 2 (4). London: British Institute of International and Comparative Law: 596–605. doi:10.1017/S0020589300100028. ISSN 0020-5893. JSTOR 755346. OCLC 8271467775. S2CID 248996031. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  • Camiscioli, Elisa (Summer–Fall 1999). "Intermarriage, Independent Nationality, and the Individual Rights of French Women: The Law of 10 August 1927". French Politics, Culture & Society. 17 (3–4). New York, New York: Berghahn Books: 52–74. doi:10.3167/153763799782378320. ISSN 1537-6370. JSTOR 42843081. OCLC 205909023. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  • Cottias, Myriam (August 2005). "Gender and Republican Citizenship in the French West Indies, 1848–1945". Slavery & Abolition. 26 (2). Abingdon: Routledge: 233–245. doi:10.1080/01440390500176400. ISSN 0144-039X. OCLC 6895438010. S2CID 144630105. – via Taylor & Francis (subscription required)
  • Dobkin de Rios, Marlène (1968). "Colonialism and the Legal Status of Women in Francophonic Africa". Cahiers d'Études Africaines. 8 (31). Paris: École des hautes études en sciences sociales: 390–405. doi:10.3406/cea.1968.3134. ISSN 0008-0055. OCLC 772667063. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  • Donner, Ruth (1994). The Regulation of Nationality in International Law (2nd ed.). Irvington-on-Hudson, New York: Transnational Publishers. ISBN 978-0-941320-77-1.
  • Flournoy, Richard W. Jr.; Hudson, Manley O. (1929). "French Colonies (Other than Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Reunion)". A Collection of Nationality Laws of Various Countries as Contained in Constitutions, Statutes and Treaties. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 257–268. OCLC 875321407 – via HeinOnline.
  • Fransman, Laurie (2011). Fransman's British Nationality Law (3rd ed.). Haywards Heath, West Sussex: Bloomsbury Professional. ISBN 978-1-84592-095-1.
  • Grandmaison, Olivier Le Cour (2006). "The Exception and the Rule: On French Colonial Law". Diogenes. 53 (4). London: SAGE Publications for the International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies: 34–53. doi:10.1177/0392192106070346. ISSN 0392-1921. OCLC 437606336. S2CID 220709847. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  • Law, Robin (1986). "Dahomey and the Slave Trade: Reflections on the Historiography of the Rise of Dahomey". The Journal of African History. 27 (2). London: Cambridge University Press: 237–267. doi:10.1017/S0021853700036665. ISSN 0021-8537. OCLC 772528435. S2CID 165754199. Retrieved 8 July 2021. – via Cambridge Core (subscription required)
  • Lipschutz, Mark R.; Rasmussen, R. Kent (1989). "Abiodun". Dictionary of African Historical Biography (2nd ed.). Berkeley, California: University of California Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-520-06611-3.
  • Manby, Bronwen (2018). Citizenship in Africa: The Law of Belonging. Oxford: Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-5099-2078-5.
  • Manby, Bronwen (June 2015). Nationality, Migration and Statelessness in West Africa (PDF). Ministerial Conference on Statelessness in the ECOWAS region, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, 23 to 25 February 2015 (PDF). Dakar, Senegal: UNHCR Regional Office for West Africa. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 June 2021. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  • "Benin's Constitution of 1990" (PDF). Constitute Project. Translated by Matthews, Jessie L. Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press. 1990. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 May 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  • Merle, Isabelle (Summer 2002). "Retour sur le régime de l'indigénat: Genèse et contradictions des principes répressifs dans l'empire français" [The Indigenous Status Regime Revisited: Genesis and Contradictions of the Repressive Principles in the French Empire]. French Politics, Culture & Society (in French). 20 (2). New York, New York: Berghahn Books: 77–97. doi:10.3167/153763702782369803. ISSN 1537-6370. JSTOR 42843233. OCLC 5792451223. Retrieved 25 June 2021.
  • Morton-Williams, Peter (December 1964). "The Ọyọ Yoruba and the Atlantic Trade, 1670–1830". Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria. 3 (1). Ibadan, Nigeria: Historical Society of Nigeria: 25–45. ISSN 0018-2540. JSTOR 41856687. OCLC 5545108416. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  • Newbury, C. W. (April 1959). "A Note on the Abomey Protectorate". Africa. 29 (2). London: Cambridge University Press for the International African Institute: 146–155. doi:10.2307/1157517. ISSN 0001-9720. JSTOR 1157517. OCLC 772533112. S2CID 145105979. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
  • Niort, Jean-François (August 2007). "L'application du Code civil à la Guadeloupe dans le contexte dela réaction napoléonienne" [The Application of the Civil Code to Guadeloupe in the Context of the Napoleonic Reaction] (PDF). Bulletin de la Société d'Histoire de la Guadeloupe (in French) (146–147). Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe: Société d'histoire de la Guadeloupe: 19–45. doi:10.7202/1040648ar. ISSN 0583-8266. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  • Opoku, Kwame (1974). "Traditional Law Under French Colonial Rule". Verfassung und Recht in Übersee / Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America. 7 (2). Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH: 139–153. doi:10.5771/0506-7286-1974-2-139. ISSN 0506-7286. JSTOR 43108378. OCLC 7831297523.
  • Parrinder, Geoffrey (1967). Akinjogbin, I.A. (ed.). The Story of Ketu, an Ancient Yoruba Kingdom (2nd ed.). Ibadan, Nigeria: Ibadan University Press. OCLC 1074163777.
  • Pemberton III, John (1989). "6. The Oyo Empire" (PDF). In Drewal, Henry John; Pemberton III, John; Abiodun, Rowland; Wardwell, Allen (eds.). Yoruba: Nine Centuries of African Art and Thought. New York, New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. pp. 147–163. ISBN 0-8109-1794-7.
  • Plender, Richard (October 1974). "The New French Nationality Law". The International and Comparative Law Quarterly. 23 (4). Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press: 709–747. doi:10.1093/iclqaj/23.4.709. ISSN 0020-5893. JSTOR 758412. OCLC 769971121. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  • Reestman, Jan Herman (Autumn 1999). "Citizenship and Nationality: The Case of (Post-) Colonial France and Europe". The Irish Review (24). Togher, Cork: Cork University Press: 18–30. doi:10.2307/29735938. ISSN 0790-7850. JSTOR 29735938. OCLC 5557043058. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  • Ronen, Dov (1975). Dahomey: Between Tradition and Modernity. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-0927-6.
  • Ronen, Dov (April 1984). Political Dynamics in Benin (PDF) (Report). Washington, D.C.: United States Department of State. AD-A143 026. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  • Rosas, Allan (1994). "Nationality and Citizenship in a Changing European and World Order". In Suksi, Markku (ed.). Law Under Exogenous Influences. Turku, Finland: Turku Law School. pp. 30–60. ISBN 978-951-29-0284-2.
  • Saada, Emmanuelle (2012). Empire's Children: Race, Filiation, and Citizenship in the French Colonies. Translated by Goldhammer, Arthur. Chicago, Illinois: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-73307-4.
  • Semley, Lorelle D. (May 2014). "'Evolution Revolution' and the Journey from African Colonial Subject to French Citizen". Law and History Review. 32 (2). New York, New York: Cambridge University Press for the American Society for Legal History: 267–307. doi:10.1017/S0738248014000157. ISSN 0738-2480. JSTOR 43670704. OCLC 7781124851. S2CID 145771594. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  • Staniland, Martin (1973). "The Three-Party System in Dahomey: II, 1956–1957". The Journal of African History. 14 (3). London: Cambridge University Press: 491–504. doi:10.1017/S0021853700012846. ISSN 0021-8537. JSTOR 180543. OCLC 5548851855. S2CID 153322300. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  • Zounmenou, David (17 December 2020). "Crisis of Confidence in Benin Deepens". ISS Africa. Pretoria, South Africa: Institute for Security Studies. Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  • "Benin: Forced Marriage, Including the Frequency, the Practice and the Groups Involved; Legislation; Protection and Assistance Provided by the State and Civil Society (2010 – July 2013)". RefWorld. Ottawa, Ontario: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada. 22 July 2013. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  • "Law No. 65-17 of 23/06/65 containing the Code of Dahomean Nationality". RefWorld. Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 23 June 1965. Archived from the original on 16 February 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  • "Point de presse du Conseil des Ministres du mercredi" [Press Briefing by the Council of Ministers on Wednesday]. Présidence de la République du Bénin (in French). Porto-Novo, Benin: Government of Benin. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2021.