CYELP 16 [2020] 301-317 303 of an analysis of legal texts (an examination of applicable law). The area of doctrinal and legal analysis will involve national and international regulations related to the subject of the paper. The basic technique of the intended analysis will involve universally accepted methods of interpretation of legal texts and legal inference rules. The second methodology to be used is that of comparative law research whose aim is to demonstrate the similarities and differences in the legal regulations in the field of the discussed issues. 2 Defining statelessness The defi nition of statelessness can be found in Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (CRSSP): it is a state of not having any nationality − not being considered a national by any state under the operation of its law. Articles 1-10 CRSSP regulate the basic principles of treating and protecting stateless persons (including the national clause in the case of freedom of religious practice and the religious education of children), Articles 12-32 define their legal status and individual rights (in terms of employment, social security, freedom of movement), while Articles 33-42 are the final provisions. International statelessness regulations are supplemented by the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (CRS), which primarily adopts safeguards to prevent statelessness (Articles 1-10), sets out general rules for the prevention and limitation of statelessness (Articles 11-13), followed by final provisions (Articles 14-21). Both of these conventions constitute a basic international legal framework regarding statelessness and are aimed at preventing its incidence by providing standards on the acquisition and loss of nationality. Failure in the application of these conventions lies in the fact that they have been ratified by few states (around several dozen countries), and therefore there is no uniform universal standard of treatment of stateless persons.1 The biggest controversy among states that have not ratified the CRSSP and CRS is the fact that they grant citizen rights to stateless persons, whilst other foreigners acquire such rights only after years of tiresome procedures. The provisions relating to statelessness have been established in many international conventions, especially those under international human rights law.2 1 Only the rules of customary international law on child statelessness can be treated as part of a universal system. See William Thomas Worster, ‘The Presumption of Customary International Law: A Case Study of Child Statelessness’ (2017) available at <https://ssrn. com/abstract=3091912> accessed 22 May 2020. See also Article 29 of the 2004 Arab Charter on Human Rights and Article 7 of the 2005 Covenant on the Rights of the Child in Islam. 2 See the 1965 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (art 5); the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (arts 13, 16 and 24); the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (art 9); the