Determination of nationality by the State whose nationality is at issue Articles 1 and 2 of the 1930 Hague Convention on Certain Questions Relating to the Conflict of Nationality Laws reflect the well-established principles of international law that: 159 Article 1: It is for each State to determine under its own law who are its nationals. This law shall be recognised by other States in so far as it is consistent with international conventions, international custom, and the principles of law generally recognised with regard to nationality. Article 2: Any question as to whether a person possesses the nationality of a particular State shall be determined in accordance with the law of that State. Most people acquire a nationality automatically at birth, i.e. by operation of law without any formal act of the Executive being required.160 Other people acquire a nationality only subsequent to birth, either automatically by operation of law or by an act of the Executive, the most common such act being naturalization.161 It should be noted that just because a person has not been registered by a State as its national does not necessarily mean that he or she is not considered as a national under the operation of that State’s law. For example, each year approximately 48 million births remain unregistered by the time the children concerned have reached the age of five,162 but this does not necessarily mean that none of those children have a nationality. What it does mean, however, is that the children are at the very least at risk of not being able to prove a claim that a claim that they have acquired nationality jure sanguinis or jure soli should their nationality status ever be questioned. 163 Such questioning could be triggered either by the State whose nationality is at issue, or by another State (if, for example, the child concerned was born or later travelled abroad). Where a process of nationality determination is triggered, the persons listed in categories (a) to (f) above may find themselves unable to prove to the State whose nationality is at issue that they do in fact have its nationality, in which case that State will not consider them to be nationals under the operation of its law. If that State also considers them not to have the nationality of any other State, it will be bound to consider them de jure stateless. Determination of nationality by other States Other States may make a nationality determination with or without consulting the State whose nationality is at issue. If the persons concerned are refugees or asylum-seekers, the State whose nationality is at issue must not be consulted; or, if there is already sufficient evidence regarding nationality status, the State whose nationality is at issue need not be consulted. However, sometimes it may be necessary to consult the State whose nationality is at issue before a determination can be made. 159 160 161 162 163 See also, for example, the Advisory Opinion of the Permanent Court of International Justice in Nationality Decree Issued in Tunis and Morocco (French Zone), 1923. Note that the term “by operation of law” is not to be confused with the term “under the operation of its law”. The latter term is broader, including, for example, decisions of the Executive that are based on law. For example, as a result of marriage. UNICEF, “The 'Rights' Start to Life: A Statistical Analysis of Birth Registration”, 2005, p. 3. Note that sometimes a country may for a particular purpose be willing to lower its standard of evidence for proving nationality, e.g. in the context of a readmission agreement with another country. See, for example, the “List of Documents for Indirect Evidence of Nationality” in Annex 3 to the 2006 Agreement between the European Community and the Russian Federation on Readmission. 47