26. The jus soli principle only applies if no other nationality can be attributed to a child when they are born. The child can acquire nationality only if both parents are unknown or have unknown nationality.47 27. In principle, minors born to a naturalised father become Lebanese by operation of the law (Article 4 of Decision 15/1925). However, minors born to an unmarried naturalised father face difficulties to acquire this derivative nationality automatically and have to resort to court. Minor children born to a naturalised mother and foreign father become Lebanese, only if their foreign father is deceased. 28. A stateless woman married to a Lebanese man may acquire the Lebanese nationality by marriage one year after the registration of marriage by a judicial decision, based on Article 5 of the nationality law. Foreign wives may apply for nationality by a simple administrative procedure. The obstacles to securing nationality by marriage is therefore much greater for stateless women, who must secure a favourable judicial decision. Discrimination in Family Status Laws in Lebanon 29. Lebanon does not have a civil code regulating personal status matters, instead there are 18 confessions, 15 separate personal status laws governing the lives of women and girls in terms of marriage, custody, alimony, divorce and inheritance which include provisions which discriminate against women and girls in both Christian and Muslims families. 30. Religious courts and institutions implement personal status laws, which are built on the notion that men are the ‘head of the family’, hence preserving the inequality of women under the law. Discrimination on the basis of sex is therefore legalised and protected by law. 31. The co-submitting organisations reiterate the concerns expressed in the concluding observations of the Committee of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (CCPR) in May 2018, “that religion-based personal status laws discriminate against women in such matters as marriage, pecuniary rights, divorce, child custody and inheritance. It is also concerned about: (a) the limited oversight over religious courts dealing with personal status matters;...” The Committee also recommended that the “State party should repeal all discriminatory provisions against women in its legislation and consider adopting a unified personal status act that would apply to all persons, regardless of religious affiliation, and guarantee equality between men and women and respect for freedom of thought, conscience and religion. It should also provide for the option of civil marriage and for the legal recognition of such marriages…”.48 Other Gender Discrimination in Law Pertaining to the Penal Code, Rape, and Personal Status Code Exemption of rapists and perpetrators of gender-based violence from punishment upon marriage 32. The co-submitting organisations welcome the repeal of Article 522 of the Lebanese Penal Code in August 2017, which had previously enabled perpetrators of rape, kidnapping, or statutory rape to avoid prosecution or punishment if they married the victim. This is important progress and provides survivors of rape and kidnapping with the opportunity to access justice. However, other Art. 1, sec. 3 Decree No 15 on Lebanese Nationality including Amendments [Lebanon], 19 January 1925, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/44a24c6c4.html [accessed 3 July 2020] 48 Ibid. 47 7