4. Legal Frameworks on Civil Status and Identification and their Interplay with Nationality Laws Ivorian nationality laws cannot be viewed in isolation. In fact, Ivorian civil status laws (and foreign civil status laws for non-nationals) are of foundational importance. No individual can establish Ivorian nationality by origin without proving his or her filiation to at least one parent who is an Ivorian national. Birth certificates are the first official record of a child’s basic facts of existence and legal identity, providing information on place of birth and parentage. Implementing regulations to the Ivorian Nationality Code require all individuals to present a birth certificate to acquire nationality through any mode, including declaration, marriage, adoption and naturalization. Laws pertaining to identification of Ivorian nationals and foreigners also have important ramifications in terms of nationality and statelessness. Certificates of nationality are the only documents accepted by law as constituting proof of Ivorian nationality. Yet national identification (ID) cards play a greater role in day to day life, given that all Ivorians are obliged by law to carry proof of their identity in the form of an Ivorian national ID card. As such, the legal framework, combined with the realities of the identification practices must also be considered when determining whether an individual has Ivorian nationality or might be stateless. Although Côte d’Ivoire’s system of personal identification has been subject to heavy regulation, the issuance of national ID cards has been highly discretionary for most of its history. Under President Houphouët-Boigny, local police and sub-prefectural officials exercised discretion in issuing national ID cards. In light of the liberal and integrationist policies of the time, little scrutiny was placed to verify the Ivorian nationality status of individuals. As such, many individuals of foreign origin were able to obtain Ivorian national ID cards, even Ivorian passports, without having to apply for a certificate of nationality. Starting in 1990, in light of growing concerns over the liberal issuance of the yellow national ID cards issued under Houphouët-Boigny, the authorities introduced a new generation of green national ID cards. However, due to technical and budgetary reasons, in part related to political succession at the time, the new green national ID cards were not issued until 1998. Between 1990 and 1998, administrative attestations of identity were issued to supplement the yellow national ID cards in circulation. With the passage of a new law in 1998, it became mandatory for an individual to present a nationality certificate as well as a birth certificate to obtain a green national ID card. As such, between November 1998 and January 2000, 3,756,871 green national ID cards were issued, which were valid until February 2001. From this time onwards, however, the country’s identification system effectively ceased to function due to the political and military crisis, marking an era of even greater arbitrary and discretionary issuance of informal identification papers. As part of the negotiated crisis-recovery process, the dysfunctionality of the identification system was overlooked and political compromises were made in order to launch a special identification program starting in 2007 that would simultaneously issue national identity cards and voter cards for the 2010-2011 elections. This section provides an overview of the most salient elements of the bodies of law relating to civil status and personal identification in Côte d’Ivoire, as well as of the greatest challenges faced in their implementation and practice over the years. This will help clarify how statelessness and the risks of statelessness arise with respect to various populations. 33