40 overview of the safeguards and gaps related to the prevention of statelessness at birth in Hungary, Hungarian Helsinki Committee, January 2014. 179 ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Italy, 2015. 180 ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Romania, 2015. 181 Article 7 of the Croatian Citizenship Law, as amended by law of 28 October 2011. 182 ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Poland, 2015. Note that in Slovenia, the legislation is ambiguous on this point as the provision in question which relates to foundlings (article 9) does not contain a safeguard against statelessness in such cases, yet there is a general stipulation in a separate section of the Citizenship Act (article 18) which prohibits loss of nationality without proof that the person has or will be granted another nationality. It would be advisable for the law to nevertheless be clarified on this point. ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Slovenia, 2015. 183 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Croatia, CRC/C/HRC/CO/3-4, 19 September 2014, paras. 26-27. 184 Emphasis added. See further ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Albania, 2015. 185 Articles 5(1) of the 1961 Convention; 6(4d) of the ECN and 8(2) of the CRC are particularly relevant in this context. 186 See also ENS, Preventing childhood statelessness in Europe: Issues, gaps and good practices, 2014, page 31. 187 ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Romania, 2015. 188 ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Macedonia, 2015; ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Slovenia, 2015. 189 Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: Switzerland, CRC/C/CHE/CO/2-04, 30 January 2015. 190 Explanatory Memorandum in respect of principle 12 of the Council of Europe, Recommendation CM/Rec (2009) 13 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the nationality of children, 9 December 2009. 191 Thorbjørn Jagland, Secertary-General of the Council of Europe, speech delivered at the 46th Annual Study Session of the IIDH “Children and International Human Rights Law”, Strasbourg, 6 July 2015. 192 The Hague Conference on Private International Law is undertaking a mapping of state practice in respect of surrogacy which may help to identify gaps and good practices relating to the question of nationality at the domestic level, which can in term form the foundation for international regulation. 193 Emphasis added. Council of Europe, Recommendation CM/Rec (2009) 13 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the nationality of children, 9 December 2009, principle 12. 194 None of the eight ENS country studies conducted during 2015 unearthed any rules on acquisition of nationality in the context of surrogacy. In Ukraine, however, surrogacy is regulated by law and the commissioning parents are recognized as the legal parents of the child. There is no legal relationship between the surrogate mother and the baby. See K. Koleson, Tackling childhood statelessness in Ukraine, 2015. 195 In Italy, for instance, organising or advertising the sale of surrogacy services is also punishable by imprisonment and hefty fines. See ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Italy, 2015. 196 Above n52. 197 Ibid, para. 72. 198 Ibid, para. 99. 199 ENS, Preventing childhood statelessness in Europe: Issues, gaps and good practices, 2014, page 32. 200 J. Kanics, “Preventing and addressing statelessness in the context of international surrogacy arrangements” in Tilburg Law Review, Vol. 19, 2014, pp 117-126. 201 ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Slovenia, 2015. 202 As recounted by Greg Constantine in Legally invisible in Serbia, ENS Blog, 25 February 2015. 203 See, for instance, Praxis, Preventing childhood statelessness – Remaining problems in Serbia, May 2015. 204 See, for instance, S. Woldenberg, Access to civil documentation and registration in South Eastern Europe: Progress and remaining challenges since the 2011 Zagreb Declaration, 2013; UNHCR, Study of birth registration procedure in the Republic of Armenia: Problems and prospects for overcoming them, 2013; S. Reynolds and D. Grisgraber, Birth Registration in Turkey: Protecting the future for Syrian children, 30 April 2015. 205 See, in particular, the work of UNICEF and Plan International. 206 At the time of writing, the so-called “Zero Draft” document on the Post2-15 Development Agenda contained the following as its target 16.9:“By 2030, provide legal identity for all, including birth registration” (under Goal 16, “Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels”). 207 See, for instance, European Parliament Directorate for External Policies, Addressing the human rights impact of statelessness in the EU’s external action, EXPO/B/2014/2014/07, November 2014, page 23. 208 There has been collaboration, for example, between the EU, the Office of the High Commissioner for National Minorities of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and UNHCR to improve access to birth registration for Roma communities in South Eastern Europe. See, for a synopsis of some of this work, I. Sturkenboom, Working towards the eradication of statelessness in South Eastern Europe, Blog for ENS, 31 January 2014. UNICEF, Every Child’s Birth Right. Inequalities and trends in birth registration, 2013. 210 UNICEF, A Passport to Protection. A guide to birth registration programming, 2013, page 147. 211 Deni was born in Serbia, with a reported birth registration rate of 99%, so his case would be among the last 1% of unregistered births. 212 See n210. This document also defines universal Registration in the glossary as follows: “While indicated by complete registration (see Completeness), it specifically considers the inclusion of all/non-discrimination in the registration regardless of race, religion, national origin, sex or any other trait”. 213 S. Reynolds and T. Duoos, A generation of Syrians born in exile risk a future of statelessness, Blog for ENS, 15 July 2015. 214 Ibid. 215 S. Reynolds and D. Grisgraber, Birth Registration in Turkey: Protecting the future for Syrian children, 30 April 2015. 216 Ibid. 217 Emphasis added. UNICEF refers here to data from United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistics Division, Population and Vital Statistics Report, Series A, Vol. LXV, New York, 2013. 218 Emphasis added. See Plan International, Count Every Child. The Right to Birth Registration, 2009. 219 As recounted by M. Drazovic in Abandoned by parents, neglected by the state, ENS Blog, 24 March 2014. 220 UNHCR, Study of birth registration procedure in the Republic of Armenia: Problems and prospects for overcoming them, 2013. 221 See n214. 222 See, for instance, the case studies of Badema and Andreea, described below, as well as the further case studies of Ebru (Macedonia) and Ionela (Romania) described in the respective ENS country studies. ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Macedonia, 2015; ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Romania, 2015. 223 M. Trifkovic, New birth registration procedure – Impact on the prevention of statelessness in Serbia, Blog for ENS, 21 February 2014. 224 Praxis, Preventing childhood statelessness – Remaining problems in Serbia, May 2015. 225 Zagreb Declaration, 27 October 2011, principle I(1). 226 UNHCR, OSCE-HCNM, European Commission, Co-chair Conclusions of the Regional Conference on Access to Civil Registration and Documentation in South-Eastern Europe: Progress and Remaining Challenges since the 2011 Zagreb Declaration, Podgorica, 25 October 2013. See also S. Woldenberg, Access to civil documentation and registration in South Eastern Europe: Progress and remaining challenges since the 2011 Zagreb Declaration, 2013. 227 UN Human Rights Council, Resolution on Birth registration and the right of everyone to recognition everywhere as a person before the law, A/HRC/ RES/28/13, 7 April 2015. 228 Council of Europe, Recommendation CM/Rec (2009) 13 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on the nationality of children, 9 December 2009, principle 23. Consider also Action 7 of the UNHCR Global Action Plan to End Statelessness: 2014-2024. 229 A problem which is, itself, likely to grow in future with the increased use of more sophisticated identity certification systems, digital systems and biometric schemes. For instance, the GOV.UK Verify service, now being offered as part of the United Kingdom government’s digital services platform has now announced that it will be possible to register a birth in Northern Ireland using GOV.UK Verify in 2016. While such digital systems are currently being used to facilitate access to government services that can still be accessed the “traditional” way, it may become increasingly difficult for people who are outside of such systems to interact with state bodies. See Identity Assurance and GOV.UK Verify, Services that plan to start using GOV.UK Verify, Blog by Government Digital Services, 23 July 2015. 230 In addition to the ENS studies on Albania, Italy, Macedonia and Romania, see also for instance Committee on the Rights of the Child, Concluding Observations: The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, CRC/C/15/ Add.11821, 23 February 2000, para 22; Concluding Observations: Croatia, CRC/C/HRC/CO/3-4, 19 September 2014, paras. 26-27. 231 For instance, ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Latvia, 2015. 232 For instance, ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Italy, 2015. 233 For instance, UN Human Rights Council, The right to a nationality: women and children, A/HRC/RES/20/4, 16 July 2012. 234 The identification and sharing of good practices between countries is one important way to work towards this. For instance, it would be of interest to further explore the reported practice in Italy of allowing birth registration to be completed by parents who do not have any ID documents through the support of two witnesses. ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Italy, 2015, page 28. 235 ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Macedonia, 2015. 236 ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Romania, 2015. 237 ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Albania, 2015. 238 K. Fajnorova, Do stateless people have a right to die? Blog for ENS, 15 April 2015. 239 Committee on the Rights of the Child, General Comment No. 5: General measures of implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, CRC/ GC/2003/5, 27 November 2003. 240 In particular the 1961 Convention and the ECN. 209