law] which are more conducive to the realization of the rights of the child.”258 This is to say that in implementing the CRC, the Convention must not be interpreted in a “vacuum”, but in conjunction with the relevant international standards, in particular the 1961 Convention, and if national or international law prescribes more conducive standards, these standards should prevail.259 UNHCR finds that while the CRC is silent on stipulating any requirements of residence for the child born stateless in the country in order to acquire a nationality, the requirement of lawful residence is nevertheless not permitted because it is not allowed for under Article 1(2) of the 1961 Convention, which should be interpreted in conjunction with the CRC. “Habitual residence” pursuant to Article 1(2)(b) must be understood as meaning that the person in question has had a “stable, factual residence,”260 and does not imply a legal or formal residence requirement. The 1961 Convention does not permit Contracting States to make an application for the acquisition of nationality by individuals who would otherwise be stateless conditional upon lawful residence.”261 The Danish Government has in its answers to the Committee in Parliament,262 upheld the requirement of lawful residence, and in support hereof stated that Denmark is a contracting state to the 1997 European Convention on Nationality (ECN). Article 6(2)(b) of the ECN allows applications for children born on a state’s territory who do not acquire at birth another nationality to be subject to a condition of lawful and habitual residence in a period up to five years preceding the lodging of the application. Under Section 17 of the Circular on Naturalization, an applicant must have residence in Denmark (the Danish term: “bopæl”) which is to be understood as a lawful residence as it presupposes a valid residence permit. The Ministry of Immigration and Integration finds the condition of residence (“bopæl”) under Section 17 of the Circular on Naturalization to be in line with Denmark’s obligations under the CRC and the ECN. The Danish Government has in its answers to the Committee in Parliament also stated that it is in line with Denmark’s obligations under the 1961 Convention to require that the applicant must be between 18 and 21 years of age.263 Hence the obligation under the 1961 Convention does not apply for a person born stateless in Denmark and who is under the age of 18 years. UNHCR is concerned that there may be stateless children born in Denmark who are not able to acquire lawful residence in the country. As a consequence, such children cannot benefit from the provisions of Section 17, and may have to wait for 18 years before being eligible to acquire Danish citizenship in accordance with Section 26 of the Naturalization Circular.264 In light of the obligations cumulating from the 1961 Convention and the CRC, UNHCR interprets that the right of every child to acquire a nationality (Article 7 of the CRC) and the principle of the best interests of the child (Article 3 of the CRC) 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.265 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.266 UN General Assembly, Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1577, p. 3, Art. 41, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b38f0.html. Article 13 of the 1961 Convention contains similar provision stipulating that :  “[The] Convention shall not be construed as affecting any provisions more conducive to the reduction of statelessness which may be contained in the law of any Contracting State now or hereafter in force, or may be contained in any other convention, treaty or agreement now or hereafter in force between two or more Contracting States.” 258 64 259 See also, United Nations, Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, 23 May 1969, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1155, p. 331, Art. 31(3) (c) and International Law Commission, Conclusions of the work of the Study Group on the Fragmentation of International Law: Difficulties arising from the Diversification and Expansion of International Law, 2006, available at: https://bit.ly/2El6rvm, para. 4. 260 UNHCR Guidelines No. 4, para 41. See also ibid, FN 30 (discussing the term “habitual residence” in numerous international instruments, as well as by The Hague Conferences on Private International Law.). 261 Ibid. 262 See in Danish, answer to L41/8 dated 11 December 2019, available at: https://bit.ly/30V88ra. 263 https://bit.ly/334PyiS. 264 See discussion on Section 26 of the Circular of Naturalization, p. 84-85. 265 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. 266 UNHCR Guidelines No. 4, para 34. Mapping Statelessness in Denmark