conditions which led to the automatic (ex lege) acquisition of the nationality were not satisfied. 14. This approach is specifically required to give effect to Article 5(1) of the 1961 Convention in cases of recognition, legitimation, denial of paternity, annulment of recognition, legitimation or adoption, or annulment of marriage, which in many legal systems are regulated by rules which have retroactive effect. It was submitted that Articles 5-8 of the 1961 Convention would apply where it is discovered or alleged after a reasonable period of possession of a nationality that the conditions for acquisition of that nationality were not fulfilled. Arbitrary deprivation of nationality 15. The loss and deprivation provisions of the 1961 Convention need to be read and interpreted in light of the general prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality, whether or not it results in statelessness, enshrined in UDHR Article 15(2). As set out in the resolutions of the Human Rights Council and reports of the UN Secretary General on this question, several principles can be identified as following from this prohibition. Established by law 16. Loss or deprivation of nationality needs to have a firm basis in national law. Loss and deprivation provisions must be predictable. They may not be interpreted by analogy (i.e. applied to facts which are not evidently covered by the wording of the provisions concerned). As a result, a legal provision regarding loss or deprivation of nationality may not be enacted or applied with retroactivity, nor may a provision regarding the acquisition of nationality be repealed or restricted with retroactivity. 17. To establish whether a person acquired or had a nationality withdrawn on account of certain acts or circumstances, the legislation which was in force at the moment these acts occurred is to be applied. Where a new ground for loss or deprivation of nationality is introduced in national law, the State must include a transitional provision to avoid an individual losing his or her nationality due to acts or facts which would not have resulted in loss or deprivation of nationality before the introduction of the new ground.4 Non-discriminatory 18. Loss or deprivation of nationality may not be based on discrimination on any ground prohibited in international human rights law, either in law or in practice. These include, inter alia, all the grounds established in Article 2 of the ICCPR: “race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status”. Participants noted the jus cogens character of the prohibition of racial discrimination as well as the specific prohibition of racial discrimination in relation to nationality in the CERD and underlined its relevance in many situations of deprivation of nationality. International law prohibits deprivation of nationality on other grounds, including under Article 9 of the 1961 Convention which refers specifically to religious 4 For example, if a State introduces voluntary acquisition of a foreign nationality as a new ground for loss of nationality, no such loss should occur if the foreign nationality is acquired after the introduction of this ground, but the application to acquire the nationality was already made prior to its introduction. 5