Report on Citizenship Law: Mali in Article 12. In addition to double-birth, the law adopted another principle from French law, providing for some persons of foreign parentage born in Mali, and resident there for five years, to obtain Malian nationality by declaration. The Code also provided for the automatic acquisition of nationality for the children of naturalised parents under certain circumstances. Finally, it adopted the principle of possession d’état de national for a person having the ‘apparent status’ of a national;51 though it was unclear what this principle would mean in a state that had just emerged from a much larger territorial empire. Article 68 of the 1962 Code contained a further transitional clause stating that all persons resident in Mali at the time of the enactment of the code were presumed to be nationals of Mali unless proven otherwise.52 Proof of residence could be established by a certificate of residence from the chef d'arrondissement, the mayor, or another government official. In his book on francophone African nationality laws, Alexandre Zatzepine argues that ‘residence’ in Article 68 meant habitual residence.53 This centralised, administrative structure had been created by the French54 and would run parallel to more traditional customs still practiced in much of Mali, including traditional marriages, and to the traditional authorities in many Malian communities, such as the Amanokal of the Tuareg.55 Establishing Malian nationality under the law followed the French system, with its focus on official documents, including most importantly the certificate of nationality. Birth certificates remained critical evidence of nationality needed to establish parentage or place of birth.56 Many individuals continued to lack the proofs needed to prove or establish their nationality under the law or were confused or ill-informed about the necessary procedures. Following these transitional provisions, Articles 8, 9 and 10 of the 1962 code provided for jus sanguinis attribution of nationality at birth, primarily through the father, for those born both within Mali and abroad. These articles were in keeping with the laws of many countries in the former AOF, as well as both Islamic law and French law. The 1962 code also contained several instances of gender discrimination. A child born to Malian mothers and foreign fathers would not automatically obtain Malian nationality if the child acquired his or her father’s nationality and/or the father’s family played a role in the child’s upbringing or education.57 Under both French law and Islamic law, it was also common to distinguish between children born in and out of wedlock, a distinction reflected in the 1962 law. Parentage had to 51 B. Manby ‘Trends in Citizenship Law and Politics in Africa Since the Colonial Era’ in E. F. Isin and Peter Nyers (eds), Routledge Handbook of Global Citizenship Studies (Routledge 2014) 174. 52 Circulaire d'application n. 331 sur l'application du Code de la Nationalité Malienne, Journal Officiel de la République du Mali, J.O.R.M. No. 114 (1 April 1962) p. 272. According to the Circulaire, a Certificat de Nationalité, the main document proving Malian nationality, must be issued by a judge or consular officer, if abroad. 53 Zatzepine 20-21. 54 See generally the descriptions of French administrative goals in Edmond Bemus, Pierre Boilley, Jean Clauzel, Jean-Louis Triaud, eds, Nomades et commandants: administration et sociétés nomades dans l’ancienne A.O.F. (Karthala 1993) 24. 55 The Amanokal is the head of the Tuareg federations in northern Mali. For an overview of Tuareg political organisation, see Baz Lecocq, Disputed Desert: Decolonisation, Competing Nationalisms and Tuareg Rebellions in Northern Mali (Brill 2010) and Pierre Boilley, Les Touaregs Kel Adagh: Indépendances et révoltes: du français au Mali contemporain (Karthala 1999). 56 Title V of the 1962 Code dealt with the issuance of Certificates of Nationality. Title VI dealt with the procedures for adjudicating nationality in the courts. The issuance of Malian ID cards was granted under Décret n°014/PG- RM du 09 janvier 1988 portant institution et règlementation de la délivrance de la carte d’identité et de la carte consulaire. 57 1962 Code Art. 8(3). Articles 8(5)-10, 16-17 establish further rules for the attribution of Malian nationality to out-of-wedlock children under certain circumstances. 8 RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2020/11- © 2020 Author(s)