the child’s status. Given the “inherent difficulties in providing proof of French nationality,” the law establishes a procedure for the courts – rather than the administrative authorities – to determine if the person has French nationality and to issue documentary proof of that fact.33 The courts do not grant nationality; they merely decide if the facts are established to indicate that the person has nationality according to the law. Where the relevant court (the tribunal d’instance) determines that a person is entitled to French nationality, a certificate of nationality is issued free of charge by the registrar, based on other documents available. These include the birth registration document of the child showing birth in France and descent from the named parents and, in case of an application for a certificate based on the child being stateless, proof of the parents’ statelessness (whether formally recognized by the French refugee agency or not) or inability to transmit nationality to the child. In the absence of any documentation, the nationality of a person may also be recognized by the courts on the basis of possession d’état de national: the fact that a person has been treated as a national for at least 10 years prior to the application for the certificate of nationality.34 A certificate of nationality functions as proof of nationality until any court decides otherwise, with the burden of proof on those contesting it, who must show that the holder of the certificate does not have nationality (for example, because the documents on which the application for the certificate was based were fraudulent). If the registrar decides that the person does not have French nationality, reasons are provided and the person can ask first for review by the Minister of Justice and then appeal to the next level of courts (tribunal de grande instance), where he or she must be represented by a lawyer. Alternatively, the person may appeal directly to the next level of court by “declaratory action” against the public prosecutor (Procureur de la République), for which there is no time limit.35 French courts have established jurisprudence confirming attribution of French nationality on the basis of birth in France where a child would otherwise be stateless. This would apply, for example, to a child born out of wedlock to an Algerian mother and a father from Morocco where (until reforms in 2007) the law did not allow transmission of either nationality. It would also apply to children whose parents are from Colombia, where the jus soli law did not permit transmission of nationality to children born abroad (again, until reforms in 2002). French nationality is not recognized where a child can obtain the nationality of a foreign parent by a simple process of consular registration. An important exception is made where it is impossible for the parents to approach their national authorities, for example, because they are refugees.36 33 Commentaire Décision n° 2013-354 QPC du 22 novembre 2013 (Mme Charly K), Conseil constitutionnel. 34 Civil Code, Article 21-13. 35 Civil Code, Article 29-3; and Commentaire Décision n° 2013-354. 36 See : Rapport n° 1 (2003-2004) de M. Jean-Patrick Courtois, fait au nom de la Commission des lois, déposé le 1 octobre 2003, Sénat de la République française, section titled « Article additionnel avant l’article 35 A (art. 19-1 du code civil) : Attribution de la nationalité française par défaut aux enfants nés en France de parents étrangers et n’ayant pas leur nationalité, » available at http://www.senat.fr/rap/l03-001/l03-00173.html; also Cour de Cassation Chambre civile 1 du 18 juillet 2000 98-15.265, Bulletin 2000 I N° 215 p. 139; Conseil d’Etat, Conseil d’Etat Statuant au contentieux, N° 182219 Lecture du 12 Février 1997 ; Conseil d’Etat, Statuant au contentieux, N° 158778 Lecture du 14 Octobre 1996. 9 CAMPAIGN TO END STATELESSNESS WITHIN 10 YE ARS