Nationality of Foundlings: Avoiding Statelessness Among Children of Unknown Parents Under International Nationality Law (Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies, 5)

Preface
Executive Summary
Contents
About the Author
Abbreviations
1 Introduction
	1.1 Why Foundlings?
	1.2 Objective
	1.3 Research Questions
	1.4 Working Hypothesis to Be Verified in Chaps. 3 and 6: Foundling is a Child of Unknown Parentage
	1.5 Research Methodology and Limitation
		1.5.1 Languages
		1.5.2 Literature Review and Further Research
		1.5.3 Consideration Over the Possibility of Systematic Comparative Review and Ideal Focus Countries
		1.5.4 Adjusted Approach and Eventual Countries with Relative Details Included
		1.5.5 Significance of Practice by Non-state Parties
	1.6 Qualitative Rather than Quantitative Research
	1.7 Structure
2 Nationality, Statelessness, Family Relationships, Documentation and Foundlings
	2.1 Statelessness Around the World and Efforts to Address Statelessness
	2.2 Right to Nationality Under International Law
	2.3 Domestic Rules for Acquisition and Loss of Nationality
	2.4 International Legal Framework to Address Statelessness
		2.4.1 Developments Towards Adoption of the 1961 Convention
		2.4.2 Relevance of UNHCR Guidance
	2.5 Stateless Person Definition and Interpretation
	2.6 The Definition of Being ‘considered a national’
	2.7 Notes on Other Related Concepts
		2.7.1 De Facto Stateless Persons
		2.7.2 Persons of Undetermined Nationality
		2.7.3 Persons at Risk of Statelessness
	2.8 Causes of Statelessness Including Foundlinghood
	2.9 Documentation of Birth, Parentage and Nationality
		2.9.1 Lack of Documentation is Not Equivalent to Statelessness
		2.9.2 When Establishing Nationality Without Documents Becomes Difficult
		2.9.3 Late Birth Registration as a Measure to Prevent Statelessness Arising from Lack of Documentation
		2.9.4 Lack of Documentation of Parentage and Having Unknown Parents
		2.9.5 Where Foundling Provisions Are Correct Solutions
	2.10 Family Law and Nationality
		2.10.1 Distinction Between ‘factual parent’ and ‘legal parent’
		2.10.2 Legal Descent Under Family Law to Be Determined Before Nationality by Jus Sanguinis
		2.10.3 Legal Parentage Under Family Law Vis-à-Vis Under Nationality Law
		2.10.4 Relevance of the Law of Parentage
		2.10.5 Establishment of Legal Parentage in Cases of Natural Reproduction
		2.10.6 Establishment of Legal Parentage for Surrogacy Cases
		2.10.7 Private International Law on Parentage and Conflict of Laws in Surrogacy Cases
3 Defining a ‘Foundling’
	3.1 ‘Found’ in the territory’: The Condition for Granting Nationality—Not Part of Who a Foundling Is
	3.2 Lack of an Established Definition of a ‘Foundling’—Available ‘Definitions’
	3.3 Language Analysis
		3.3.1 The Term ‘foundling’—Is It Used in Domestic Nationality Legislation in English?
		3.3.2 ‘Foundling’ in Five Other UN Official Language Versions of the 1961 Convention and Domestic Nationality Laws
		3.3.3 Observations Based on the Text of the 1961 Convention and Legislation in Different Languages
	3.4 Evolution of the Foundling Provision within International and Regional Instruments
		3.4.1 Codification of Nationality Legislation Principle into the 1930 and 1961 Conventions: ‘Foundling provision’ More Common than ‘Otherwise stateless’ Persons Provision
		3.4.2 The 1930 Hague Convention
		3.4.3 1949 UN Study of Statelessness
		3.4.4 ILC Study on Nationality Including Statelessness and Draft Conventions
		3.4.5 ILC Draft Conventions on Reduction of Future Statelessness and Denmark’s Proposal
		3.4.6 The 1961 Convention
		3.4.7 A Child of Unknown Parents Born in the Territory: Left Between Article 1 and Article 2?—‘merger’ with ‘a foundling found in the territory’
		3.4.8 ECN and Its Explanatory Report
	3.5 The Overall Difference Between ‘persons of unknown parentage’ and Other ‘persons otherwise stateless’
	3.6 Does a ‘foundling’ Need to Have Been Intentionally ‘abandoned’ and Passively ‘found’ on the Territory?
	3.7 The Distinction Between ‘children of unknown parents’, ‘foundlings’ and ‘otherwise stateless persons’ Within Domestic Nationality Laws
		3.7.1 (1) Children of Unknown Parents, (2) Foundlings and (3) Otherwise Stateless Persons Distinguished
		3.7.2 (1) Children of Unknown Parents ‘born or found’ Distinguished From (3) Otherwise Stateless Persons
		3.7.3 (1) Children of Unknown Parents Included in (2) Foundling Concept
		3.7.4 (1) Children of Unknown Parents Grouped Together with (3) Otherwise Stateless Persons
		3.7.5 No Nationality Grant (in Principle) to (2) Foundlings Whose Birth in the Territory is Not Established
	3.8 Persons Who Fall Through the Crack of the 1961 Convention and ECN: Persons of Known Parentage of Unknown Birthplace, Otherwise Stateless
	3.9 Summary and Conclusions: A Foundling is of ‘unknown parentage’
4 Defining ‘Unknown-ness’ of Parentage
	4.1 Note on the Statistical Information
	4.2 One Parent or Both Parents Unknown?
	4.3 Categories of Persons Considered to Be of ‘unknown parents’ Under National Foundling Provisions
		4.3.1 Babies Abandoned on Streets and Other Places
		4.3.2 Baby Boxes or Baby Hatches
		4.3.3 Babies Entrusted or Surrendered to a Third Person
		4.3.4 Persons Who Suffer Memory Loss or Are Mentally Disabled Whose Parents Thus Cannot Be Identified
		4.3.5 Children Informally Adopted and Raised by Unrelated Adults
		4.3.6 New-Born Babies Left Behind at a Hospital by Biological Mothers (of Foreign Appearance)
		4.3.7 Orphans
		4.3.8 Runaway Child
		4.3.9 A Person of Undocumented Parentage
		4.3.10 Children Born Through Anonymous Birth Scheme
		4.3.11 Persons Whose Mothers Go Missing After Registering Their Birth with Invalid or Incomplete Identity Information
		4.3.12 A Person Whose Biological Father is Definitively Known But Has Not Legally Recognized His Paternity Thus is Unknown (Not a Foundling as Mother is Known But Stateless)
	4.4 Legally Unknown v. Factually Unknown Parents—The Former Matters
		4.4.1 Need to Consider International Private Law
	4.5 Persons Without Legal Parents as a Result of Surrogacy Arrangements: Applicability of Foundling (Unknown Parentage) Provisions?
	4.6 Alternative Avenues of Nationality Grant via Adoption, Institutional Care, Facilitated Naturalization or Late Birth Registration
	4.7 Summary and Conclusions: ‘unknown parents’ Mean They Do Not Legally Exist or Their Existence is Not Proven
5 Burden and Standard of Proof in Determining Unknown-ness of Parentage
	5.1 Lack of International Standards on the Burden and Standard of Proof in Establishing the Applicability of the Foundling Provision
	5.2 Applicability of the UNHCR Evidentiary Standards for ‘otherwise-statelessness asessment’ to the Foundling Related Assessment
	5.3 Burden and Standard of Proof—Irrelevant in Administrative Procedures?
	5.4 The Applicant’s Duty to Cooperate and the Non-adversarial Nature of the Procedure
	5.5 Need for Clarification of Evidentiary Terms and Concepts
		5.5.1 Burden of Proof
		5.5.2 Standard of Proof
	5.6 State Practice on the Burden and the Standard of Proof in Determining Unknown Parentage
		5.6.1 US
		5.6.2 The Philippines
		5.6.3 Japan
	5.7 Undetermined Nationality: Cannot Be an Outcome of State’s Assessment
	5.8 What is ‘a reasonable time’ for the Classification ‘undetermined nationality’, that is for the Assessment of a Foundling Provision Applicability?
		5.8.1 Is a ‘five years’ Standard for ‘otherwise statelessness’ Period Not Too Long?
		5.8.2 Applicability of the ‘five years’ Standard to Assessment Under Article 2, the Foundling Provision
	5.9 Summary and Conclusions
6 Age of a Foundling, and Being ‘Found’ in the Territory
	6.1 Ordinary Meaning
	6.2 UNHCR and Other International Standards
	6.3 Overview of 139 States’ Foundling Provisions in Terms of Age (Annex 1)
		6.3.1 ‘Birth in the territory’ Required
		6.3.2 ‘New-born’
		6.3.3 Older Children (3–15 Years Old)
		6.3.4 All ‘minors’ (Non-exhaustive)
		6.3.5 No Age Specified
	6.4 The Actual Implementation of the Legislation Limiting Foundlings’ Age
	6.5 What is the Definition of Being ‘found’ and Who Can ‘find’ the Person?
	6.6 What is the Age Above Which One Should Be Able to Secure Evidence of Stay in the Country?
	6.7 Are the Rationale for Low Age Limitation Justified?
		6.7.1 Rationales Presented by States
		6.7.2 Rationale 1: Do Older Children Know Their Parents’ Identity or Their Birthplace?
		6.7.3 Rationale 2: Is It Justifiable to Include ‘presumption of birth’ in the Definition of Being ‘found’?
		6.7.4 A Foundling is Any Child Under the Age of Majority
	6.8 ‘Not having been born outside the territory’—Is It Part of the ‘found’ Definition?
	6.9 Burden and Standard of Proof in Establishing Having Been Found (Under the Applicable Age Limitation)
	6.10 Summary and Conclusions: A Foundling Can Be Found by Any Third Party While a Minor
7 ‘Proof to the Contrary’ and Conditions for Nationality Withdrawal
	7.1 Temporal Scope of ‘in the absence of proof to the contrary’: Pre Facto and Post Facto Assessment
	7.2 Structure of Article 2 and What ‘to the contrary’ Qualifies (Prerequisite or Presumed Facts?)
	7.3 Travaux Discussions on What Constitutes Proof to the Contrary
		7.3.1 Discovery of Birth Abroad Pre Facto (And Post Facto)
	7.4 The Formulation of the Domestic Foundling Provisions and the Proof to ‘the contrary’
	7.5 Selected National Legislation and Practice on the ‘proof to the contrary’
	7.6 Post Facto Withdrawal of Nationality
		7.6.1 1961 Convention and Related International Standards
		7.6.2 Analysis of Legislation on Post Facto Withdrawal
	7.7 Burden and Standard of Proof in Proving the ‘contrary’ and the Grounds for Withdrawal
	7.8 Summary and Conclusions: Possession of Another Nationality to Constitute ‘the contrary’ and the Withdrawal Ground
		7.8.1 Pre Facto Assessment to Confirm Acquisition of Nationality
		7.8.2 Post Facto Assessment—Conditions for Nationality Withdrawal
8 Recommendations—Model Foundling Provision
	8.1 Short Review of Chaps. 1–7
	8.2 Previous Discussions on a Model Founding Provision
	8.3 Model Foundling Provision
		8.3.1 ‘Whose legal parentage’
		8.3.2 ‘Cannot be proven’
		8.3.3 ‘Found’ (in the Territory)
		8.3.4 ‘Child’
		8.3.5 ‘Shall acquire nationality’ (of the State Where Found)
		8.3.6 ‘Unless her or his possession of a foreign nationality is proven’
		8.3.7 ‘Reasonable time’ to Determine the Eligibility for Nationality
		8.3.8 Regulating Nationality Withdrawal to Avoid Arbitrary Deprivation of Nationality
	8.4 Alternative Avenues of Nationality Grant Via Adoption or Other Means
	8.5 Final Remarks Including Notes for Future Research
Annex 1 Comparative Table of Legislation on the Nationality of Foundlings of 193 UN Member States
Statistical Summary and Explanatory Note for Annex 1
Annex 2 Foundling Provisions as of 1953 (Non-exhaustive)
Bibliography
Index