caused by marriage or termination of marriage. Article 6 provides that no statelessness may be caused by an extension of loss or deprivation of nationality to the spouse of the person concerned. It is evident that these rules are now supplemented by Article 9 of the CEDAW, which prescribes that a woman’s nationality status is completely independent of that of her spouse. When is a Person “Stateless”? Definition of “stateless” for the 1961 Convention 5. Articles 5-8 of the 1961 Convention establish a basic rule that loss or deprivation shall not cause statelessness. The Convention, however, does not define the term “stateless”. Rather, Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954 Convention) establishes the customary international law definition of a “stateless person” as a person “who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law.”2 Where the 1961 Convention requires that a person shall not lose or be deprived of nationality if this would render him or her stateless, States are required to examine whether the person possesses another nationality at the time of loss or deprivation, not whether they could acquire a nationality at some future date. Determination of the non-possession of any foreign nationality 6. A Contracting State must accept that a person is not a national of a particular State if the authorities of that State refuse to recognize that person as a national. A Contracting State cannot avoid its obligations based on its own interpretation of another State’s nationality laws which conflicts with the interpretation applied by the other State concerned. Burden of proof 7. As a general rule, the responsibility for substantiating a claim lies with the party which advances that claim. As a result, the burden lies primarily with authorities of a State that is seeking to apply rules for loss or deprivation of nationality to show that the person affected has another nationality, or that the person is covered by one of the exceptions allowed for in Article 7 of the 1961 Convention with respect to loss, or Article 8 with respect to deprivation of nationality. On the other hand, some relevant information may be in the possession of, or can only be acquired by the individual concerned. Each individual therefore has a duty to provide a truthful and as full an account of his or her position as possible, and to submit all evidence reasonably available. 8. Situations of renunciation of nationality are different: here, the burden lies with the individual to establish that he or she possesses or will acquire another nationality, because the individual is the party claiming that the renunciation will not result in statelessness. 2 UNHCR Guidelines on Statelessness No. 1: The definition of “Stateless Person” in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. 3