The Plight of the Rightless: Mapping and Understanding Statelessness in Tripoli-V1.3 1. Children of naturalised fathers who, for many reasons (omission by the father or by state authorities), were not granted the Lebanese nationality alongside their father, may in theory file a lawsuit to get registered and/or naturalised. In fact, legal experts still debate the type of lawsuit that needs to be filed (personal status or nationality) and the competent jurisdiction. Moreover, these cases if and when open, have very rarely led to a final ruling. It is worth mentioning in this respect that a remarkable decision has been rendered lately by the Court of Cassation under No 38 dated 2-7-201576 clearly stating that children of naturalised fathers, who were not granted the Lebanese nationality alongside their fathers, can file a lawsuit before the Sole Judge on the grounds that their case is a civil status case and not a case of nationality. 2. The Naturalisation Decree has only partially addressed the case of under-study individuals. It only covered those, among them, who applied for the nationality while not addressing the case of individuals whose files should have been under-study for decades by then. 3. The politically charged nature of the decree has made most judges refrain from ruling on cases pertaining to naturalised individuals. 4. The sectarian nature of Lebanese politics and society has weighed heavily on judiciary and administrative processes related to nationality. While unwritten, authorities have sought to avoid further sectarian divisions on these issues by seeking some form of balance across regions and confessions before moving forward with individual cases. This consideration has been further delaying pending cases. ‫] على خانة والدهما انم يش ّكل في هذه الحالة دعوى نفوس وليس دعوى جنسيّة طالما ثبت ان هذا‬...[ ‫ وحيث أن طلب قيد المميزين‬76 ‫ […] وطالما ان والديه طالبي القيد كانا قاصرين‬1994/5247 ‫األخير يحمل الجنسيّة اللبنانيّة منذ تاريخ اكتسابه لها بموجب المرسوم‬ .‫عندما اكتسب والهما الجنسيّة‬ 68