G.T.B. v. SPAIN JUDGMENT Section 24 “The following shall be obliged to initiate registration without delay: First: those designated in each case by law; Second: those to whom the event subject to registration refers, or their heirs; Third: the public prosecutor’s office. The authorities and civil servants not enumerated above to whom, by virtue of their positions, unregistered facts are known shall be obliged to notify the public prosecutor’s office of them.” Section 42 “Registration shall be effected by means of a declaration by the person who has knowledge of the birth. The declaration shall be made between twenty-four hours and eight days after the birth, except in cases where the Regulations specify a longer period.” Section 43 “The following shall be obliged to initiate the registration [of a birth] by the corresponding declaration: First: the father; Second: the mother; Third: the next of kin or, failing that, any person of legal age present at the place of birth at the time of its being verified; Fourth: the head of the establishment or the head of the family of the house in which the birth took place; Fifth: in the case of abandoned newborn children, the person who has taken them in.” Section 49 “Recognition may be effected by the means laid down in the Civil Code or by a declaration of the father or mother, at any time, before the registrar, entered in the margin and signed by them. In the latter case there must also be the consent of the child or the approval of the court, as provided for in the Civil Code. Natural parentage may be registered by means of a procedure approved by the first-instance judge, provided that there is no objection from the public prosecutor’s office or from the interested party, who must have been notified personally, if any of the following circumstances are applicable: First: when the father or the mother unambiguously and expressly recognises parentage in writing; Second: when the child is in continuous possession of the status of natural child of the father or mother, as attested by direct declarations of the father himself or of his family; Three: in respect of the mother, provided that the fact of birth and the identity of the child are fully proved. In the event of an objection, the registration of parentage can only be obtained through the ordinary procedure.” 15