Too old to be a ‘foundling’? – International standards and comparative analysis –
(2) Newborn/recent born: Angola (art 9[3] Constitution; art 9[2] and art 15[b]) of
Nationality Act), Antigua and Barbuda (sec 3[1]), Austria (art 8), Barbados (sec
4[1]), Belgium (art 10[3]/article 10[4]), Belize (sec 7), Burkina Faso (art 141/art
142), Cabo Verde (art 7[2]), Cambodia (art 9[2]), Cameroon (sec 9/sec 10), Congo (Republic of) (art 9[3]), Democratic Republic of the Congo (sec 8), France
(art 19/art 19-2 and art 58), Gabon (art 11 and 12), Grenada (sec 2[3]), Guinea
Bissau (art 5[2]), Guyana (sec 8[2]), Indonesia (art 4 [10]), Ireland (sec 10),
Malaysia (sec 19B, Part III of the Second Schedule), Mali (art 225/226), Malta
(art 17[3]), Mauritania (art 10), Mauritius (sec 2[2][e]), New Zealand (sec 6[3][b]
[i]and[ii]), Niger (art 10), Portugal (art 1[2]), Saint Kitts and Nevis (Sec 95[5][c]
Constitution/ sec 3[1] Citizenship Act), Sao Tome and Principe (art 5[2]), Senegal
(art 3), Singapore (Section 13 Third Schedule), Sri Lanka (art 7), Tunisia (art 9
and 10), Ukraine (art 7), UK (sec 1[2]).
(3) Infant: Costa Rica (art 13[4]), Honduras (art 23[4]), Nicaragua (art 16[4]),
Paraguay (art 146 [4])(‘infante’ in Spanish), South Sudan (sec 8[4]) and Fiji (sec
7) (‘infant’ in English) and Andorra (art 4; ‘infant’ in Catalan). See footnote 12 of
this paper.
35
25%
7
5%
(4) 2-5 years old and under: 2 y.o and under (Czech Republic, sec 10); 4 y.o
and under (USA, sec 301[f]); and Togo, Child Code art 19); 5 y.o and under
(Uganda, Constitution art 11[1]).
4
3%
(5) 6-8 years old and under: 6 y.o and under (Canada, sec 4[1]); 7 y.o and
under (Ghana, sec 8; Swaziland, sec 47; and Kenya, art 14[4]); 8 y.o and under
(Zambia Constitution art 35[2]).
5
4%
1
1%
10
7%
16
11%
(6) 14 years and under: Zimbabwe, Constitution art 36[3])
Explicitly (foundling provision uses ‘minor,’ or ‘child’ which is
defined within the same law [or its regulation] as ‘minor’ - see
Table 4 for details): Georgia (art 11), Kyrgyzstan (art 12 [6]), Luxemburg (art 5 [3]) Moldova (art 11 [2]), Peru (art 2 [2]), Philippines
(art 3), Russian Federation (art 12 [2]), Spain (art 17 [1][d]), Sudan
(7) All
(art 5), and Switzerland (art 3).
minors
By Interpretation (Info available that ‘child’ in foundling proviTotal of
sion is interpreted to mean ‘minor’ - see Table 4 for details):
26 States Armenia (art 20), Australia (art 14), Azerbaijan (art 13), Belarus (art
(18%)
13), Croatia (art 7), Hungary (art 3 [3][b]), Italy (art 1[1][b] and art
1[2]), Kazakhstan (art 13), Latvia (sec 2 [1] 5] and 2 [2] 2]), Lithuania
(art 16), North Macedonia (art 6), Romania (art 5[3]), Serbia (art 3),
Slovenia (art 9), Turkmenistan (art 11[1] 8] and 11 [3]), and Uzbekistan (art 15).
European University Institute
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