consideration of specific remedies should also be brought into play in discussing terms of any settlement. After a judgment A court judgment is a unique opportunity to establish the basis for legal and procedural reforms that can allow the individual client or a wider group to resolve their situation. Nonetheless, in most cases, a court judgment will be only one component of an effort to remedy the situation of individuals or groups denied recognition of nationality; the need for a broad advocacy coalition continues after a judgment to ensure effective implementation or to consider an appeal. If a case is unsuccessful, it may still form the basis for further advocacy for the situation to be addressed, for example through necessary legislative reform. Thinking about the aftermath of a positive or negative result is an integral part of the planning of the litigation from the outset. Legal arguments The Guide sets out in detail the different legal arguments that may be available to litigators seeking realisation of the right to a nationality. The Guide places emphasis on the need to understand not only the national legal frameworks that govern statelessness and the right to a nationality, but also both comparative and international law, informing judges about solutions that otherwise would not be imagined based on existing national precedents. The Guide provides an analysis of the arguments for the right to a nationality, the eradication of statelessness and the protection of stateless persons, illustrated with examples from different decisions at national, regional and international level. The themes addressed include the following: The definition of stateless person and the determination that a person is stateless A stateless person is defined by the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons as a person who is “not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law”. As observed in UNHCR’s Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, establishing whether a person fulfils this definition is “a mixed question of fact and law”. The Guide sets out the different inquiries that may be needed to determine a person’s nationality or whether that person is stateless and provides examples of court decisions in these cases. It may be necessary to analyse not only the relevant nationality law, but also related laws such as those governing the family, civil registration, national identity cards and passports, migration and refugee status, or consular registration and the recognition of foreign civil status certificates. It will also be necessary to consider relevant secondary legislation (regulations or decrees), as well as internal departmental circulars, and documentation of administrative practice. The right of every child to acquire a nationality The right of every child to acquire a nationality is established by the international and regional human rights treaties and is also provided for in more detail by the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and by specific treaties on nationality adopted by the Council of Europe and the African Union. The primary obligation is on the state in which the child is born to grant nationality if the child does not acquire another nationality at birth. The Guide sets out the necessary legal provisions to respect the rights of children to nationality at national level. It also focuses on the procedures required to establish recognition of the child’s legal identity and nationality, especially in case of children of unknown parents or of parents who are stateless or of undetermined nationality; or children who were born out of wedlock, adopted, or born and registered in a different country from that of the nationality of the parents. The Guide also notes jurisprudence—especially from the African human rights bodies—supporting a positive right to nationality in a country where a person has the closest connections, even in the absence of proof of statelessness. Litigation before the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights has also successfully challenged states that refuse to recognise the nationality rights of children born to same-sex parents, or through surrogacy or other assisted means of reproduction. Discrimination based on sex and gender The principle of equality of rights between the sexes in relation to nationality is clearly established in international law. However, nationality laws of 24 countries still do not allow women to confer nationality to their children on an equal basis with men, and even more countries do not grant women equal rights to acquire, change and retain their nationality, or confer nationality to their spouse. And even when discrimination based on sex has been removed from the substantive law, it is often still common in practice in civil registration and nationality procedures. The Guide provides examples where litigation challenging discrimination based on sex has been successful. 10 U N H C R | L I T I G AT I N G T H E R I G H T T O A N AT I O N A L I T Y: A G U I D E F O R P R AC T I T I O N E R S