their right to a nationality.29 30. Foundlings are granted nationality automatically by law. However, certain administrative conditions must be met in practice to establish the identity of the child and issue a birth certificate. Any authority, institution, or person who cares for a pregnant woman or finds a new-born or an older child whose identity is unknown or cannot be established has an obligation to inform the competent authorities within 24 hours (‘immediately’). Within 3 days, a report signed by a competent authority and a doctor must be completed, and the birth certificate is issued within 30 days based on that information. To establish the identity of a child found or abandoned in a hospital, the authorities designate one or more persons to carry out the necessary steps for birth registration, including forensic expertise, and the mayor issues a decision determining the name and surname. This law does not contain any age limit for the foundling child, and thus applies until age 18.30 Romanian law provides that a foundling who has been granted Romanian nationality loses this nationality if parentage is established to one or both parents before the child is 18 and the parent/s are foreign nationals. If the parent(s) is/are later identified, the birth certificate is annulled through a court decision and a new one is issued. There is no explicit safeguard to prevent statelessness in such cases and no jurisprudence on this matter. The authorities state that they consider potential situations of statelessness but, in the absence of a legal safeguard, there is a risk of statelessness.31 31. A foreign child adopted by national parents acquires nationality if both parents are Romanian. If only one parent is Romanian, both must agree on the child's nationality. If they cannot agree, the court will decide, taking into consideration the child's best interests and their opinion if they are over age 14. A risk of statelessness may occur for children residing abroad (or who leave the country for permanent residence abroad) if their adoption is annulled or cancelled while they are under 18, they would be considered never to have been a Romanian national. Issue 2 – Statelessness determination and access to rights 32. Identifying stateless people in the country is the first step to providing adequate protection and rights enshrined in the 1954 Convention. Although the 1954 Convention does not specifically provide for how statelessness should be determined, UNHCR guidance has confirmed that this is best fulfilled through a dedicated statelessness determination procedure (SDP) with the necessary safeguards and procedural guarantees. It should be fair, efficient, and easily accessible.32 The lack of an SDP results 29 Act No. 21/1991 on Romanian Citizenship, Article 8: http://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/121439 (RO) (ENG translation available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b50218.html); Ordinance 65/2017 for the amendment and completion of the Act on Romanian Citizenship (amending Article 9 of the Act on Citizenship): https://www.universuljuridic.ro/legii-cetateniei-romane-21-1991-modificari-oug-65-2017 (RO); ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Romania, Working Paper 01/15, 2015: https://www.statelessness.eu/updates/publication/endingchildhood-statelessness-study-romania. 30 Act No. 21/1991 on Romanian Citizenship, Article 5(3): http://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/121439 (RO) (ENG translation available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b50218.html); Methodological norms for the application of legislation on civil status, Official Gazette No. 151 of 2 March 2011, Arts. 34-37: http://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocumentAfis/220201 (RO). 31 Act No. 21/1991 on Romanian Citizenship, Article 30: http://legislatie.just.ro/Public/DetaliiDocument/121439 (RO) (ENG translation available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b50218.html); ENS, Ending Childhood Statelessness: A Study on Romania, Working Paper 01/15, 2015: https://www.statelessness.eu/updates/publication/ending-childhood-statelessnessstudy-romania. 32 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 2014: http://www.unhcr.org/uk/protection/statelessness/53b698ab9/handbook-protection-stateless-persons.html. 8