‘Legal Identity for All’ and Statelessness relations and a nationality are rights in international law; states have corresponding obligations. For private international law, a renewed effort is needed within The Hague Conference to develop stronger guidance on the acceptance and/or reestablishment of civil status documents across borders. Painful as the process would be, it is necessary. The draft UN Guidelines on the Legislative Framework for Civil Registration, Vital Statistics and Identity Management are also an opportunity to provide a more robust legal and procedural framework for the resolution of the status of those whose nationality is not clear. 118 A final or revised version could include a framework for procedures to resolve cases of undetermined nationality, including the late registration of the various different aspects of a person’s legal identity, and transcription or independent confirmation and registration of civil status events that originally took place in another country. The World Bank’s Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development are also under review. 119 From the perspective of international human rights law, art 8 of the CRC provides the most useful entry point. In line with the classic tripartite set of obligations, states parties to the CRC should respect, protect, and fulfil the right to identity. There is no existing UN document setting out the content of these obligations in this particular field. However, the outlines are reasonably clear; I propose the following summary. ‘Respect’ implies that the state will recognise that the identity belongs to the individual and will not interfere with its enjoyment: for example, destroy identity documents or records, or annul or amend them against the person’s wishes without a court order, or arbitrarily remove children from their families, broadly defined. ‘Protection’ requires the state to ensure that records and documents of the key elements of identity (within that state’s legal system) are preserved from destruction by others, secured by privacy and data protection laws, and re-established if destroyed, and that private sector registration efforts are properly regulated. The elements of ‘fulfilment’ would include an obligation to enable comprehensive civil registration (including a right to consular assistance for nationals outside the country and their children born abroad), and to ensure that these registers are easily accessible, including from other countries, and remain so as archives; to adopt a national legal framework that prevents and reduces statelessness; and to establish protection systems to implement these rights. In all cases, basic principles of international human rights law require effective and accessible independent oversight, by courts and other mechanisms, of decisions about the registration of legal identity, including nationality. All of these could be elaborated in greater detail, and prioritised for action according to context. SDG Target 16.9 is both an opportunity and a threat for stateless persons and those at risk of statelessness. The opportunity is the belated emphasis on the importance of official recognition and registration as a means for an individual to assert rights as a member of society. The threat is the danger that short cuts and interim solutions, a utilitarian commitment to the majority or to the priorities of the state rather than the individual, mean those of ‘doubtful’ status are — despite the SDG commitment — left behind. 118 See Draft Guidelines on the Legislative Framework for Civil Registration, Vital Statistics and Identity Management (n 113). 119 See Principles on Identification for Sustainable Development (n 105). 271