CYIL vol. 15 (2024)

VERONIKA D’EVEREUX Birth registration has an impact on many fundamental rights, including the legal identity of the child. The UNHCR in its report states that in case the child is not registered, the child does not officially exist and is vulnerable to violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation. 34 T he birth registration is an essential step to issue a birth certificate which establishes the legal identity of the child, it contains information on parentage , date and place of birth, and it is used as a proof of legal identity and evidence of links to a state which is responsible for granting nationality to the child. Women in some situations face discrimination due to the domestic laws not allowing them to proceed with the registration of the child. Certain population groups are more vulnerable to this challenge than others. The issue of birth registration might be relevant to nomadic and border-dwelling populations, migrants in irregular situations, e.g., displaced persons, asylum seekers and refugees who left their documents behind, unaccompanied, separated, or abandoned children. Provisions stemming from birth registration laws, civil codes, family laws, marriage laws, and criminal laws in some states cause legal barriers affecting women’s ability to register birth of their children. For instance, women might be entitled to register the birth of their children only in exceptional circumstances or when they prove that the child was born during wedlock. In many cases, the births may be registered only by the fathers or another adult male member of the family, and if those are not available, then by doctors, midwifes, and others who attended the birth, such as tribal chiefs, while the mother is explicitly excluded from registering the birth. The typical exceptional circumstances , under which the mother is allowed to register the birth, are the cases when father is incapable, deceased, ill, absent, or otherwise unable to register the birth. If the father is capable and present to register the child, but either actively decides not to do so, or passively fails to register the birth, the child might go unregistered unless, a local law allows the mother to register the birth based on proving she holds an authorisation letter or special power of attorney issued by the father. In addition, women might register the births of their children in case they hold a marriage certificate. This requirement in some countries apply to both, father and mother, but in some countries to women only. 35 The aim of this chapter is not a detailed examination of the differences in the legal systems of individual states. Pointing to legal obstacles related to the acquisition of citizenship by birth stemming from domestic laws in various states is aimed at identifying the causes of non fulfilment of the examined right to citizenship, which stems from international law, specifically the above-mentioned international treaties, and it might also be part of a customary law. A marriage certificate presented at the time of the birth is required in accordance to UNHCR in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates. 36 In some countries a child born out of wedlock can be registered, but is treated as a child of unknown parents , or there are used false names of mother and/or father, so there is not listed any legal relationship between the child and their biological parents in the birth certificate. This McGEE, T. ‘Rainbow Statelessness’ – Between Sexual Citizenship and Legal Theory: Exploring the Statelessness LGBTIQ+ Nexus, In: Statelessness & Citizenship Review, 2020, vol. 2(1), pp. 64–85. 34 UNHCR. Background note on Sex Discrimination in Birth Registration. [online] [accessed on 19 May 2024] Available at: https://tinyurl.com/3kf5v7rr. 35 PEDEN, K. Stateless by Sex: An Evaluation based on Sex Discrimination in Nationality Law, and their Effects on Statelessness. In: Berkeley Journal of International Law, 2021, vol. 39(2), pp. 351–377. 36 Ibidem.

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