A/HRC/25/28 birth registration plays in the nationality context, indicating that a birth certificate or extract from the birth registry is the primary form of proof of nationality. Yet, producing a birth certificate may be a prerequisite for acquiring a nationality certificate or identity card, reaffirming the centrality of birth registration in documentation of nationality.88 States are therefore reminded of their international human rights obligation to register every child’s birth,89 as well as their separate obligation to protecting and ensuring the right to a nationality, independent of the question of documentation attesting nationality. VI. Conclusions and recommendations 38. The right of every individual to a nationality is clearly regulated in international human rights law, which provides for the explicit recognition of that right. International human rights law also explicitly provides for the prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of nationality. 39. In regulating the loss and deprivation of nationality, States must ensure that safeguards to prevent statelessness are incorporated in their domestic law. States should carry the burden of proving that loss or deprivation of nationality will not result in statelessness. Where international law recognizes, as a matter of exception, that loss or deprivation of nationality may lead to statelessness, these exceptions must be narrowly construed. States must also demonstrate that the loss or deprivation of nationality is proportionate, including in light of the severe impact of statelessness. 40. Even where loss or deprivation of nationality does not lead to statelessness, States must weigh the consequences of loss or deprivation of nationality against the interest that it is seeking to protect, and consider alternative measures that could be imposed. Under international law, loss or deprivation of nationality that does not serve a legitimate aim, or is not proportionate, is arbitrary and therefore prohibited. 41. States should review the grounds under which individuals may lose or be deprived of their nationality with a view to removing any such grounds that are not in compliance with international law. States should remove legislative or administrative measures for loss or deprivation on nationality on the basis of a change in civil status or in response to a serious criminal offence and reconsider the appropriateness of providing for the loss or deprivation of nationality in response to long-term absence. In all cases, States must refrain from automatically extending the loss or deprivation of nationality to a person’s dependents. 42. To ensure the protection of stateless persons, States should be guided by the definition of “stateless person” as set out in the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and related international guidance. Where a person has been left stateless due to loss or deprivation of nationality in violation of international law, this does not stand in the way of recognition and protection as a stateless person. States that have not yet ratified the 1954 and 1961 Conventions are invited to do so. 43. States must ensure that their domestic law provides safeguards to fulfil the right of the child to acquire a nationality. This includes providing access to nationality for all children born on their territory who would otherwise be stateless and for all children born abroad to one of their nationals who would otherwise be stateless. States must ensure that these safeguards allow for acquisition of nationality by an otherwise stateless child as soon as possible after birth. 88 89 16 Submission from Benin. Convention on the Rights of the Child, art. 7; see also submission from Plan International.