on the naturalization bill, regardless of whether the father shared the parental authority and, importantly, the effect was retroactive for all the children born after 11 October 1993 who had not acquired Danish citizenship before.285 In sum, Danish law, prior to 31 December 2018, allows for transmission of Danish nationality to all children born to at least one Danish national, irrespective of whether the child would otherwise be stateless or of whether the child was born in the territory of a Contracting State. It is thus over-compliant with Article 4 of the 1961 Convention, and Denmark is to be commended. 4.2.1.3 Other path to naturalization Under Section 6(2), cf. Section 5 of the Danish Nationality Act, children of naturalizing parents may acquire Danish nationality simultaneously with the parent. This provision could benefit some stateless children of among others refugee parents who naturalize. 4.2.1.4 Foundlings Article 2 of the 1961 Convention provides, “A foundling found in the territory of a Contracting State shall, in the absence of proof to the contrary, be considered to have been born within that territory of parents possessing the nationality of that State.” It has been argued that this rule has become an international customary norm and it has been reiterated in other international and regional conventions.286 At a minimum, the safeguard for Contracting States to grant nationality to foundlings is to apply to all young children who are not yet able to communicate accurately information pertaining to the identity of their parents or their place of birth. This flows from the object and purpose of the 1961 Convention and also from the right of every child to acquire a nationality. A contrary interpretation would leave some children stateless.”287 Under Section 1(2) of the Danish Nationality Act, a child found abandoned in Denmark will, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, be considered a Danish national. A foundling’s automatic acquisition of nationality at birth is based on the presumption that at least one of the parents is Danish. Under Danish law, if “proof to the contrary” is established (i.e., if it is proved that neither parent was a Danish citizen), the acquisition of Danish nationality at birth ex lege is deemed null and void. This interpretation follows from the Danish constitution establishing that nationality must be granted by the legislature. When considered that the prerequisite for acquisition of Danish nationality (assumption of descent from a Danish parent) was not present, then nationality was never acquired. The situation may be seen as a ‘loss of conditional citizenship’,288 or as ‘quasi-loss’ of nationality because of the change in personal status.289 Still, such a situation of statelessness may be remedied by the Danish Parliament/the Naturalization Committee, which, upon application, may grant Danish nationality by naturalization irrespective of whether the normal conditions for naturalization are fulfilled. According to a practice introduced in 2013, problems of statelessness and protection of legitimate expectations are normally solved this way.290 In spite of this, formal legal safeguard against statelessness in relation to loss of nationality are not applicable to these situations, since the person is not protected against statelessness under Danish nationality legislation. 285 Section 16 of the Naturalization Circular. Note 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. In May 2013 the Naturalization Circular was amended repealing the prior condition on the father’s parental authority as contrary to the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment in Genovese, cf. note 255. 286 Waas, L.V., Nationality Matters, pp. 70-71 and 90. 287 UNHCR Guidelines No. 4, para. 58. 288 See Gerard-René de Groot and Maarten Peter Vink: A comparative Analysis of Regulations on Involuntary Loss of Nationality in the European Union (December 2014), available at: https://bit.ly/2WZkzRu. 289 See Gerard-René de Groot and Patrick Wautelet: Reflections on Quasi-loss of nationality in comparative, international and European Perspective (August 2014), available at: https://bit.ly/39xlu0u. 290 See Eva Ersbøll: Loss of Nationality in the Nordic Countries, in European Citizenship at the Crossroads, The Role of the European Union on Loss and Acquisition of Nationality (2015), p. 202 f. UNHCR Representation for the Nordic and Baltic Countries 69