Mai Kaneko-Iwase, Ph.D. (Law) Nevertheless, what exactly does ‘foundling’ mean? Even the UNHCR’s 2012 Guidelines on Statelessness No.4,7 providing guidance on the interpretation of Articles 1-4 of the 1961 Convention, do not contain an explicit definition of the term ‘foundling’ itself. However, the Guidelines’ paragraph 57 rephrases the term ‘foundlings’ as ‘children found abandoned in the territory of a Contracting State’. In earlier UNHCR and academic materials, the term ‘orphaned or abandoned child’ was often used interchangeably with the term ‘foundling’.8 In 2021, the author published a book entitled Nationality of Foundlings,9 entirely dedicated to clarifying the concept of a ‘foundling’ under Article 2 of the 1961 Convention and the equivalent domestic nationality law provisions (hereinafter ‘foundling provisions’). However, with the majority of the book having been written before 2020, there have been several new pieces of nationality legislation, caselaw and other material made available, strengthening its assertions, which this article aims to highlight.10 In particular, among all other issues11 in relation to the interpretation and implementation of Article 2, this article particularly focuses on the issue that likely most frequently arises, which is: How old, at most, the person concerned can be when found in the territory to be recognised as a ‘foundling’.12 As the premise for such a discussion, this article will first elaborate on the approach to be taken in applying the rules of treaty interpretation reflected in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (‘VCLT’) to the 1961 Convention. It will then briefly introduce the basic meaning of the terms ‘foundling’, ‘unknown parents’, and relatedly, ‘being found’ in the territory. The article will then go on to discuss the maximum age of a foundling by presenting the updated comparative analysis of the nationality laws of 142 states (out of 193 UN member states) that have domestic foundling provisions, as well as the practice of some States, including recent legal precedents. This article will ultimately make a recommendation on the maximum age of a ‘foundling’, adopting an evolutionary and teleological approach to treaty interpretation in light of the object and purpose of the 1961 Convention, considering the best state practice and development of human rights law, including that related to the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child (‘CRC’). 7 UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No 4 (2012), paras. 57-61 <https://www.refworld.org/policy/legalguidance/unhcr/2012/ en/105120>. 8 UNHCR, Self-Study Module on Statelessness (1 October 2012) 22. 9 Kaneko-Iwase, Nationality of Foundlings (n 2). See also the Book Review by Betsy Fisher, ‘Nationality of Foundlings: Avoiding Statelessness among Children of Unknown Parents under International Nationality Law by Mai Kaneko-Iwase’, The Statelessness & Citizenship Review 4(1) (2022) 183-187. 10 In Annex 1 as summarised in sec 6.3, chap 6 of Kaneko-Iwase, Nationality of Foundlings (n 2) 236-245 and 351-406, 139 states had been identified as having foundling provisions. With the developments and new research conducted thereafter, the total number of states with foundling provisions now stands at 142 states for this article. In particular, (i) the Philippines legislated in May 2022 - as a rare piece of legislation in the world - an Act dedicated specifically to the protection of foundlings including by granting Filipino nationality. 2022 Foundling Recognition and Protection Act (see Table 4). (ii) Chile enacted Law No. 21325 of 2021, on Migration and Foreign Persons <https://www.bcn.cl/leychile/navegar?idNorma=1158549> whose Article 173 is a foundling provision. (iii) With regard to Malaysia, the scope and nature of the relevant provision in the Federal Constitution was clarified in court in 2021. The Judgment by the Federal Court (highest court of Malaysia) Civil Appeal No.: 01(f)-35-11/2020(W) (19 November 2021) clarified that Section 19B, Part III of the Second Schedule read together with Section 1(a), Part II of the Second Schedule, Art 14(1)(b) of the Constitution was the country’s foundling provision, granting nationality to a child ‘found exposed’ in the territory. Email inquiries with Attorney Eric Paulsen, 29 November-3 December 2021. The provision was subsequently amended by the Act A1752, Constitution [Amendment] Act 2025. (iv) With regard to Grenada, Sec 2(3) of its Citizenship Act was confirmed to be its foundling provision. (v) Further it was confirmed that Israel’s nationality law no longer contained the foundling provision referred to in the book. Email exchanges with Dr. Ben Herzog on 27-28 September 2023, are on file with the author. Further, the number of states whose foundling provisions can be classified to cover ‘all minors’ increased from 15 states in Kaneko-Iwase (n 2) to 26 states (out of 142), which is of central to this article (see Table 3 and 4). 11 There are indeed a number of other issues extensively addressed in different chapters of Kaneko-Iwase, Nationality of Foundlings (n 2). These include: What constitutes ‘proof to the contrary’ which disqualifies the person from invoking Article 2 or have the person lose the nationality acquired based on Article 2 (chap 7, p.267-332)? Who bears the burden of proof, and what is the standard of proof (or the extent of ‘unknown-ness’) in establishing one’s ‘foundlinghood’ (chap 5, p.177-230)? What does a model foundling provision look like (chap 8, p333-349)? See for example Fisher’s Book Review of Nationality of Foundlings (n 9) which particularly explains the value of the chap 5 focusing on the burden and standard of proof in proving unknown parentage. 12 Extensively discussed in chap 6 entitled ‘Age of a Foundling, and Being ‘Found’ in the Territory’ of Kaneko-Iwase, Nationality of Foundlings (n 2) 231-265. The basic meaning of the terms ‘foundling’ is discussed in chap 3 (p.77-113) and of ‘unknown parents’ in chap 4 (p.115-175). 9 Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies