The registration case is submitted before the Sole Civil Judge with the required documents, including birth certificate, mother and father identification, and marriage certificate. The proof of lineage by the religious court is not a mandatory step except in the absence of required documents to prove the parental relationship, and upon the judge’s discretion. As the plaintiff notifies the State represented by the Committee of Cases at the Ministry of Justice, the judge consults the Civil Status Officer and General Security who are both not bound by any timeframe. As such, extended delays can take place at this stage even though the procedure is expected to take a few months. Subsequently, DNA testing takes place, and a memorandum representing the position of the State vis-a-vis the case is submitted by the Committee of Cases to the Judge. The Committee of Cases is not bound by any timeframe either. Once the judge receives the State’s answer, the plaintiff is notified and given the right to respond. A ruling is then issued and both parties are notified. At this stage, both the plaintiff and any State entity may appeal the ruling. The reasonable expected time for a typical lawsuit, excluding exceptionally complicated cases, should be around one year. To know more about practical cases in the city of Tripoli, a percentage reflecting the number of Tripolitan individuals who have reached each stage is inserted in red on the above map, based on the results of the survey. 64% of surveyed stateless individuals in Tripoli have started a registration procedure, while the remaining respondents (36%) did not seem to have started any administrative or legal process to claim the Lebanese nationality. Among those who said they have started some procedure, 9% of the respondents do not know which legal stage their lawsuit has reached. Another 11% declared having approached Mukhtars or the Serail in Tripoli in order to acquire the necessary documents to file a lawsuit, such as birth certificate and parents’ marriage certificate but have not completed this stage yet. The challenge at this point is often due to the inaccessibility of the midwife who has delivered the respondent and could have passed away without providing any officially signed and stamped birth attestation. 15% of the respondents said they have applied their documents to the religious court and are stuck at this level for prolonged periods due to the lack of sufficient documents or the need to provide additional proofs. 21% have completed their legal process at the religious court, have acquired a proof of lineage and are thus ready to transition to the civil court. A common barrier at this stage is financial disability, since this court’s fees are higher than the previous one. 13% have already submitted their documents to the civil court and are/have been undergoing an investigation by the General Security. Another barrier to transition from this stage to the following one is the relatively high cost of the DNA test. As such, many end up lagging for long periods until they can secure the needed lump sum for the DNA test. 7% are currently undergoing a DNA test, or have recently done so and are waiting for the issuance of the medical report. 14% have progressed all the way to the final stage and are still waiting for the judge’s ruling. This stage is often characterised by long waiting periods. 3% have received rejections on their lawsuits and have not appealed, and the remaining 7% have already received a positive ruling from the judge, went through the enforcement process of the judgement, but are still waiting for the implementation of the latter at the Personal Status Directorate. One of the main reported barriers at this stage is the reluctance of official entities to uphold this judgement and facilitate its implementation. This stage is also characterised by long waiting periods. The table below summarises the main challenges at each stage of the lawsuit, along with its consequences, average money spent and duration based on median calculations. High cost is 48