discrimination under the existing systems.36 The result of these efforts has been new legislation on identification and data protection that has improved on existing legal frameworks. (u focus box D)  Netherlands: In January 2021, the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) called on the Netherlands to enact a framework for addressing statelessness, the first endorsement by a UN treaty body of the obligation of states to grant nationality to otherwise stateless children born in their territory.37 Just over a year later, the Netherlands finally enacted a long-pending law to establish such a procedure—a major step forward, even though it would not resolve all the problems highlighted by the HRC.38 (u focus box C)  South Africa: Litigation before the South African courts on behalf of the child of Cuban parents born in South Africa who could not acquire the nationality of her parents eventually resulted in a settlement in which the government agreed to an order declaring that she was a South African citizen by birth, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and South African Citizenship Act, and in addition to adopt regulations to allow other stateless children to apply for citizenship.39 A judgment in a similar case also ordered the government to adopt regulations.40 (Although the individuals were assisted, the government did not, however, adopt the required regulations by the time of publication for this report.)  Spain: In 2021, a Spanish court recognised as a Spanish national a child who was born in transit in Morocco, while her mother was on a journey from Cameroon to Spain. The birth was not registered. The court recognised that although the child appeared in law to be entitled to Cameroonian nationality, she could not acquire it in practice without a birth certificate and additional bureaucratic procedures. She—and potentially many other children in similar situation—was recognised as stateless, and therefore entitled to Spanish nationality. The government did not appeal the decision.41  Sudan: Following the secession of South Sudan in 2011, Sudan adopted amendments to its nationality law stating that any person who had “de jure or de facto” acquired South Sudanese nationality would lose Sudanese nationality by operation of law. Although the Sudanese constitution provided for equal rights of women and men to transmit nationality to children, the Sudanese government began to apply these amendments to deny Sudanese nationality to children with one Sudanese parent and one parent (especially the father) considered to have acquired South Sudanese nationality. A representative case was brought before the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child which ruled Sudan in violation of the provisions of the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.42 The Sudanese government then amended the law and recognised the nationality of many children of mixed parentage.43 (u sections 7.2 and 7.3.) 3.3. Impacts across borders Strategic litigation may also have impacts across borders. This is most obviously the case for decisions of the regional and international courts and treaty bodies; indeed, in the most contested situations, the principles established by such cases may have more influence in another country than they do in their own. Cases at national level, especially from similar legal systems, may also be persuasive in another country:  The Indian Supreme Court decision on the Aadhaar identification system in India44 has been cited by courts in Grace Mutung’u, “Digital Identity in Kenya: Case Study”, in Towards the Evaluation of Digital ID Ecosystems in Africa: Findings from Ten Countries, Research ICT Africa 2021, https://researchictafrica.net/publication/digital-identity-in-kenya-case-study-conducted-as-part-of-a-ten-country-exploration-of-socio-digital-idsystems-in-parts-of-africa/. 36 DZ v. The Netherlands, CCPR/C/130/D/2918/2016, UN Human Rights Committee, 20 January 2021. See also Laura Bingham and Jelle Klaas, “A Victory for Human Rights in Zhao v. the Netherlands (the ‘Denny case’): Nationality from Birth, Without Exceptions” (blog post), European Network on Statelessness, 14 January 2021, https://www.statelessness.eu/updates/blog/victory-human-rights-zhao-v-netherlands-denny-case-nationality-birth-without-exceptions. 37 Caia Vlieks and Marlotte van Dael, “‘The Endless Waiting Has Destroyed Me’—Will the Statelessness Bills Discussed in the Dutch Parliament This Week Bring a Solution for Stateless People in the Netherlands?” (blog post), European Network on Statelessness, 9 May 2022, https://www.statelessness.eu/updates/blog/ endless-waiting-has-destroyed-me-will-statelessness-bills-discussed-dutch-parliament. 38 Minister of Home Affairs and others v. DGLR and another. Case no. 1051/2015, Supreme Court of Appeal, South Africa, consent order dated 6 September 2016. Documents in the case, including the court order, http://citizenshiprightsafrica.org/south-africa-dglr-and-another-vs-minister-of-home-affairs-and-others/. See also Khoza v Minister of Home Affairs and Another [2023] ZAGPPHC 140; 6700/2022; [2023] 2 All SA 489 (GP) (27 February 2023), https://www.saflii.org/za/ cases/ZAGPPHC/2023/140.html. 39 40 Minister of Home Affairs v Ali and Others (1289/17) [2018] ZASCA 169; 2019 (2) SA 396 (SCA) (30 November 2018), https://www.saflii.org/za/cases/ ZASCA/2018/169.html. José Alberto Navarro, Laura Lozano, and Cristina Manzanedo. “Landmark Judgment from Spain: Court Grants Spanish Nationality to a Stateless Child Born En Route (a case of ‘invisible children’)”, European Network on Statelessness (blog), 7 July 2022, https://www.statelessness.eu/updates/blog/landmark-judgmentspain-court-grants-spanish-nationality-stateless-child-born-en-route. 41 African Centre of Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) and People’s Legal Aid Centre (PLACE) (on behalf of Iman Benjamin) v. Republic of Sudan, Communication no. 005/Com/001/2015, African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, decision of 4 May 2018 (ACJPS & PLACE (Benjamin) v. Sudan). 42 43 Mohamed Abdelsalam Babiker, Report on Citizenship Law : Sudan (European University Institute, 2022), https://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/74634. Justice KS Puttaswamy (Retd.) and Another v. Union of India and Others Writ Petition (Civil) No. 494 of 2012, Supreme Court of India, Judgment of 26 September 2018, https://main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2012/35071/35071_2012_Judgement_26-Sep-2018.pdf. 44 U N H C R | L I T I G AT I N G T H E R I G H T T O A N AT I O N A L I T Y: A G U I D E F O R P R AC T I T I O N E R S 21