States grant nationality to children born in their territory who would otherwise be stateless either (i) automatically at birth or (ii) upon application as shortly as possible after birth. UNHCR considers that the right of every child to acquire a nationality and the principle of the best interests of the child together create a presumption that States need to provide for the automatic acquisition of their nationality at birth by an otherwise stateless child born in their territory, in accordance with Article 1(1)(a) of the 1961 Convention.243 However, if the State imposes conditions for an application as allowed for under Article 1(2) of the 1961 Convention, this must not have the effect of leaving the child stateless for a considerable period of time.244 The main principle of attribution of Danish nationality is, as mentioned above in Section 2.1.1, the principle of ius sanguinis. According to Section 1(1) of the Nationality Act, a child is a Danish national if born to a Danish father, a Danish mother or co-mother.245 Before 1 July 2014, where the child’s parents were not married and only the father was a Danish national, the child would only acquire Danish nationality automatically at birth if born on Danish territory.246 Still, children born out of wedlock to an alien mother and a Danish father might acquire Danish nationality by naturalization irrespective of residence in Denmark and irrespective of whether the child could fulfil the other general naturalization criteria, however only if the father shared the parental authority. In May 2013, an effort was made to “repair” this remaining element of gender inequality. The relevant provision in the Naturalization Circular was changed to allow a child born out of wedlock to a foreign mother and a Danish father to be naturalized irrespective of whether the child could fulfil the general naturalization criteria and irrespective of whether the father participated in the parental authority of the child. The amendment was caused by the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in the Genovese case prohibiting gender discrimination in relation to children’s acquisition of nationality based on descent. The Genovese case also caused the amendment of the Nationality Act’s ius sanguinis provision in 2014, which now provides for complete equality between Danish men and women and all children with Danish parents.247 According to Section 2 of the Nationality Act, a child of a Danish father and a foreign mother who has not acquired Danish nationality at birth will acquire Danish nationality through the subsequent marriage of the parents. In that case, the child must be unmarried and under 18 years of age at the time of the marriage of the parents. However, a marriage contracted by a person already married (a bigamous marriage, which is illegal in Denmark) has no legal effects under the Nationality Act.248 This means that children born in a marriage with a second spouse are not considered to be born in wedlock. For a child born after 1 July 2014, this does not affect the child’s right to Danish nationality acquired by descent. In principle, Denmark does not provide for automatic acquisition of nationality at birth through the ius soli principle. The case of foundlings will be discussed in Section 4.2.1.4.249 62 243 Comments by UNHCR to the Legislative Proposal amending the Citizenship Law (Nr. 52/Lp11) in Latvia, p. 2, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/57ed07954.html. 244 UNHCR Guidelines No. 4, para 34. 245 See Act No. 729 of 25 June 2014 amending Section 1 of the Nationality Act. 246 See the Consolidated Nationality Act No. 422 of 7 June 2004. Note however that also before May 2013 a child born abroad and out of wedlock to a foreign mother and a Danish father could be naturalized irrespective of whether the child could fulfill the general naturalization criteria if the father had part in the parental authority of the child. 247 See this case on equal treatment between children born in and out of wedlock: Genovese v. Malta, and Section 16 of the Naturalization Circular. 248 As established in Section 2B of this Act. 249 For information on the modes of acquiring Danish nationality based on the ius soli principle, see the website of the Ministry of Immigration and Integration, ‘Stateless persons born in Denmark’. Mapping Statelessness in Denmark