has not acquired the father’s nationality.31 43. While naturalisation for children born out of wedlock to Nepali mothers and foreign fathers as set out in Article 5 of the Constitution and Article 3 (2) of the Citizenship Act could be an option for those not eligible for citizenship by descent, it is not a fundamental right embedded in the Constitution and therefore is heavily subject to state discretion. In fact, “naturalization is not a legal matter but is rather a discretionary matter of Nepali officials who have the freedom to interpret the law in line with a patriarchal culture”.32 In fact, only 13 naturalized citizenship certificates had been granted as of January 2017.33 It is also believed that between 2009 and 2015, Nepali officials refused every citizenship application of children born to foreign fathers.34 44. In 2011, the Nepal Supreme Court granted citizenship to an 18 year old girl through her Nepali mother, as her father was unknown.35 Her application for a citizenship certificate was originally denied by the Government of Nepal.36 Notably, the court referred to the CRC and the obligations upon the Government that are enshrined therein, namely to ensure that every child has a right to nationality. Despite calls by OHCHR and the international community, Nepal did not give effect to this judgment when drafting the Constitution. 45. Finally, spouses of Nepali men may acquire citizenship on the basis of marriage as outlined in Section 5(1) of the Act: “A foreign woman married to a citizen of Nepal desiring to obtain citizenship of Nepal shall have to submit an application in the prescribed form to the designated officer. On submitting such application she has to produce the marriage relationship document with the citizen of Nepal and also evidence to show the initiation of procedure for renunciation of own's foreign citizenship” The Citizenship Act does not recognise the ability of Nepali women to confer nationality on a non-national spouse. 46. By denying women equal rights with men in terms of conferral of nationality on spouses, the law contravenes Constitutional mandates barring discrimination on the basis of gender. The only path to Nepalese citizenship for foreign male spouses is through the residence-based naturalisation process, which is subject to state discretion. Citizenship Amendment Bill 47. In August 2018, an amendment to the Nepal Citizenship Act, the Citizenship Amendment Bill (Amendment Bill) was registered, and has since been under debate in parliament. 48. The Amendment Bill goes some way in addressing statelessness and gender discrimination, 31 Nepal Citizenship Act 2063 (2006), Article 8. Susann Rothe, ‘Gender Discrimination in Nepal and how Statelessness hampers Identity Formation’ Statelessness Working Paper Series No. 2015/02, available at https://files.institutesi.org/WP2015_02_Rothe.pdf, p. 4. 33 Jo Venkoc, Of woman born – how gender discriminatory nationality laws contribute to statelessness in Nepal, Torn Identity (17 February 2019), available at https://www.thetornidentity.org/2019/02/17/nepal-nationality-laws/#note-2548-10. 34 Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, Global Campaign for Equal Nationality Rights and Nepal Civil Society Network of Citizenship Rights (2015), Nepal, Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council at the 23rd Session of the Universal Periodic Review - Summary, Update and Proposed Recommendations for the consideration of States, available at http://www.institutesi.org/UPRNepal_short.pdf. 35 Supreme Court of Nepal, Sabina Damai and FWLD v. Government of Nepal, Writ no 06/0703 (2011). 36 The court stated that the law at the time clearly provided that it is the right of the child to get a citizenship certificate in the name of the mother who is already a Nepali citizen, in the case of an unidentified or missing father, as per Article 8(2) of the Interim Constitution. The court maintained that it is the fundamental and human right of the child to get their nationality from their mother. 32 8