upon residence at that time in the territory of the State or registration with the appropriate authority. III) Deprivation of Nationality (Articles 8 and 9). No deprivation of nationality should take place if it will result in statelessness. The following exceptions are made: a) Nationality obtained by misrepresentation or fraud; b) Acts inconsistent with a duty of loyalty either in violation of an express prohibition of providing services to another state, or by personal conduct seriously prejudicial to the vital interests of the State; c) Oath or formal declaration of allegiance to another State or evidence of determination to repudiate the allegiance to the Contracting State; d) Loss of effective link to the Contracting State of naturalised citizens who, despite notification, fail to express an intention to retain nationality, as well as for children born outside the territory of the State one year after they reach the age of majority, referred to under point II) above. The Contracting State has the right to deprive nationality from an individual under grounds b) and c) above only if it specifies its retention of such a right at the moment of signing, ratifying or acceding to the Convention and if the grounds already exist in national law. Deprivation of nationality may take place only in accordance with the law and accompanied with full procedural guarantees, such as the right to a fair hearing by a court or other independent body. A Contracting State may not deprive any person or group of persons of their nationality on racial, ethnic, religious or political grounds. IV) Transfer of Territory (Article 10). Treaties should ensure that statelessness does not occur as the result of a transfer of territory. When no treaty is signed the Contracting State to which territory is transferred or which otherwise acquires territory shall confer its nationality on those who would otherwise become stateless as a result of the transfer or acquisition of territory. V) International Agency (Article 11). The Convention provides for the establishment, within the framework of the United Nations, a body to which a person claiming the benefit of the Convention may apply for examination of his/her claim, and for assistance in presenting it to the appropriate authority. The United Nations General Assembly has entrusted this function to UNHCR. VI) Resolution of Disputes (Article 14). Disputes between Contracting States concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention, which have not been resolved by any other means, may be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any one of the parties to the dispute. VII) Reservations (Article 17). Reservation may be made, at the time of signature, ratification or accession, in respect only of Articles 11 (Agency), 14 (Referral of disputes to ICJ) or 15 (territories for which the Contracting State is responsible). VIII) Final Act. The final act recommends that persons who are stateless de facto should as far as possible be treated as stateless de jure to enable them to acquire an effective nationality. Small Changes ‫ ـ‬Big Gains: An Action Plan to Prevent and Reduce Statelessness in the Kyrgyz Republic 26