Chapter 2 The Right to Nationality and Judgment TC/0168/13 of the Constitutional Court | 119 277. The Commission considers that Article 20.2 of the American Convention should be interpreted in the same way that the provisions of Article 7 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. 282 By ratifying the American Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the State bonded itself to a regime that forces it to ensure, by itself or in cooperation with other States, that people have a nationality from the moment of their birth. Regarding the Case of the Yean and Bosico Girls vs. Dominican Republic, the Inter-American Court held that "the fact that a person has been born on the territory of a State is the only fact that needs to be proved for the acquisition of nationality, in the case of those persons who would not have the right to another nationality if they did not acquire that of the State where they were born" 283. 278. Here, the Commission finds that the State bears the burden of proving that a person would not be left stateless as a consequence of a legislative, administrative or judicial measure pertaining to the loss or deprivation of nationality284.. In the case of Mrs. Juliana Deguis Pierre, the Constitutional Court’s contention was that she would not have been left stateless as she had a right to claim Haitian nationality by virtue of the principle of jus sanguinis. The Commission is not persuaded by the argument that Mrs. Deguis Pierre would not have been left stateless because Haiti used the principle of jus sanguinis. 279. In the Case of Expelled Dominicans and Haitians v. Dominican Republic, the InterAmerican Court held that if the State cannot be certain that a child born in its territory can obtain the nationality of another State, for example the nationality of a parent by jus sanguinis, that State has the obligation to grant it nationality (ex lege, automatically), to avoid a situation of statelessness at birth, pursuant to Article 282 283 284 The Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, which was signed by the Dominican Republic on December 5, 1961, in Article 1 determines that States must grant nationality to a person born in its territory who would otherwise be stateless. It further states that nationality is granted at the time of birth, or later via application to the competent authority in the manner prescribed by the law of the "concerned State ". I/A Court H.R., Case of the Girls Yean and Bosico v. Dominican Republic. Judgment of September 8, 2005. Series C No. 130, para.156. At a meeting of international experts on statelessness convened by UNHCR, it was concluded that: “A Contracting State must accept that a person is not a national of a particular State if the authorities of that State refuse to recognize that person as a national. A Contracting State cannot avoid its obligations based on its own interpretation of another State’s nationality laws which conflicts with the interpretation applied by the other State concerned.” Likewise, regarding the burden of proof in proceedings that can lead to the loss or deprivation of the nationality, they concluded that: “As a general rule, the responsibility for substantiating a claim lies with the party which advances that claim. As a result, the burden lies primarily with authorities of a State that is seeking to apply rules for loss or deprivation of nationality to show that the person affected has another nationality, or that the person is covered by one of the exceptions allowed for in Article 7 of the 1961 Convention with respect to the loss, or Article 8 with respect to deprivation of nationality. On the other hand, some relevant information may be in the possession of, or can only be acquired by the individual concerned. Each individual therefore has a duty to provide a truthful and as full an account of his or her position as possible, and to submit all evidence reasonably available.” Regarding this, see UNHCR, Summary Conclusions of the Expert Meeting: Interpreting the 1961 Statelessness Convention and Avoiding Statelessness resulting from Loss and Deprivation of Nationality. Tunis, October 31 to November 1, 2013, paras. 6 and 7. See also: United Nations, Human Rights Council, Human rights and the arbitrary deprivation of nationality. A/HRC/25/28, December 19, 2013, para. 5. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights | IACHR