citizenship—has also improved, although members remain subject to discriminatory procedures in processing their applications. A particular focus of litigation in Kenya has been an effort to slow down the roll-out of schemes to digitalise identity systems so that appropriate safeguards can be first put in place for data protection and privacy and against further exclusion. Once again, a case was brought by the Nubian Rights Forum in cooperation with other affected groups. In 2020, the Kenyan High Court held that the newly instituted National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS), known as the huduma namba (service number) should proceed only if subject to the prior adoption of an appropriate regulatory framework.93 Key elements in the presentation of this case were expert opinions provided by the NGO Privacy international and by Anand Venkatanarayanan, an Indian cybersecurity and privacy researcher.94 Litigation in France, against the biometrics and security company IDEMIA, asserting that the company had sold technology to Kenya without conducting proper due diligence on human rights risks as required under French law led to a settlement in which IDEMIA agreed to stronger safeguards.95 A new government in Kenya relaunched the digitalisation initiative under the name maisha namba. Once again NGOs went to court in Kenya, obtaining pauses in the roll-out of the scheme, although not a definitive halt. 5. CONSTRUCTING A CASE KEY MESSAGES • An important part of planning for litigating the right to a nationality and/or issue of identity documents is the choice of “framing” for the complaint: for example, to present the case as relating to statelessness, arbitrary deprivation or denial of nationality, to discrimination based on sex or race, or to a failure to ensure the right of all children to birth registration. • Cases relating to nationality and identity documents can involve a very wide range of sources of law both at national level, and—because so often it is asserted by the state of residence that a person denied nationality is in fact the national of another country—in the laws of other countries. • Comparative and international law can provide important guidance on best practice and international norms, informing judges about solutions that otherwise would not be imagined based on existing national precedents. • It can be a painstaking task to build up the necessary evidence to show that affected persons are not in fact nationals of another country, to demonstrate a pattern of discrimination, and to show what solutions are required. This could involve detailed compilation of case law, expert opinions, and third-party interventions from interested parties. • The development of detailed requests for remedies is one of the most important elements of planning litigation, especially on behalf of a group of people who share some characteristics, but where the details of each case vary. It may be necessary to establish a list of categories of the affected persons, and the legal and procedural remedies desired for each category, and those that are common to all. • Remedies may include individual relief, legal and procedural reform, symbolic or punitive damages, or terms of settlement to avoid the need to take a case all the way to trial. Nubian Rights Forum and Others v. Attorney General and Others, Consolidated Petitions No. 56, 58 & 59 of 2019, Kenya High Court, Nairobi, Judgment of 30 January 2020 http://kenyalaw.org/caselaw/cases/view/189189/; see also Republic v. Joe Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Information Communication and Technology & 2 others; ex parte Katiba Institute & Yash Pal Ghai, Judicial Review Application E1138 of 2020), High Court of Kenya (Nairobi), judgment of 14 October 2021 [2021] KEHC 122, http://kenyalaw.org/caselaw/cases/view/220495/index.html. 93 94 Frank Hersey “’Prone to hacking’: expert witness in Kenya’s Huduma Namba hearings first round”, Biometric Update, 26 September 2019, https://www.biometricupdate.com/201909/prone-to-hacking-expert-witness-in-kenyas-huduma-namba-hearings-first-round. “NGO Data Rights Files Case Against Biometric Tech Giant IDEMIA in France for Failure to Consider Human Rights Risks” (Press Release), Data Rights, 29 July 2022, https://datarights.ngo/news/2022-07-29-kenya-due-diligence-biometric-id-case/; NGOs and IDEMIA agree to Vigilance Plan Improvements in Settlement over Kenyan Digital ID Human Rights Challenge (Press Release), Data Rights, 24 July 2023, https://datarights.ngo/news/2023-07-24-ngos-and-idemiaagree-to-vigilance-plan-improvements/. 95 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 35