Table of Contents ABSTRACT 5 INTRODUCTION 8 II. APPLYING THE RULE OF TREATY INTERPRETATION TO ARTICLE 2 OF THE 1961 CONVENTION 10 A. Evolutionary and Teleological Interpretation of the 1961 Convention 10 B. Legislation and Legal Precedents of State Parties as Supplementary Means of Interpretation 12 C. Relevance of Practice of Non-State Parties - Nationality Granted to Foundlings as Customary International Law 12 Table 1: UN Member States that are Parties/Non-State Parties to the 1961 Convention with Foundling Provisions(as of 13 December 2024) 13 Table 2: Foundling Provisions of UN Member States by Region 16 D. Reference to Other Treaties including CRC 16 E. Reference to Soft Law Standards 17 F. Conclusions of Section II: Need for evolutionary and teleological interpretation 18 III. BASIC DEFINITION OF ‘FOUNDLING’ 19 A. Ordinary Meaning 19 B. Travaux Préparatoires 19 C. Evolution - From Article 14 of the 1930 Convention to Article 2 of the 1961 Convention 20 D. Equivalents of ‘Foundling’ in Other UN Language Versions of the 1961 Convention 21 E. English Language Nationality Laws - Rarely Use ‘Foundling’ 21 F. Nationality Laws of 142 States Often Use Child of Unknown Parents 22 G. Categories of Cases Recognised as Foundlings 22