SEEKING NATIONALITY THE JUDICIAL ODYSSEY OF APPLICANTS LATE BIRTH REGISTRATION LAWSUITS Late birth registration consists of filing civil status lawsuit before the single judge. The aim is to register a child born to a Lebanese father in case the birth was not administratively declared within the legal timelimit of one year from the date of birth. Frequently, such lawsuits are coupled with a petition to rectify the marital status of the Lebanese father or grandfather in case he was married but did not register his marriage at the time, or a petition to rectify the marital status of the father and adding a marriage mark in case he was married to an unregistered woman (Maktoumat alQayd) because the administration does not register such marriages nowadays. Civil status and registration lawsuits also include lawsuits filed in order to register a child born out of wedlock whose Lebanese father or mother acknowledges filiation or paternity while the child is still a minor in case no one declared his/her birth administratively within the one-year time limit. If none of the parents acknowledged filiation while the child is a minor, he/she can obtain, once he/she becomes an adult, a judicial acknowledgment of filiation and become registered within the records of the father he/she proves his kinship to. Similarly, foundlings (children born to unknown parents) born in Lebanon can file a registration lawsuit; however, the prevailing practice in courts nowadays is to consider such cases as nationality lawsuits if the child was not administratively registered within 30 days after being found. Jus Sanguini – Late Birth Registration Lawsuits Article 1 (1) and Article 2 of decision 15/1925 are the two legal grounds for Late birth registration lawsuits. These lawsuits are based on jus sanguinis ground. The law in force states birth registration with the civil administration should be declared within the first year from the date of the birth.22 After one year, the parents must resort to court (Single Judge)23 to obtain registration decision. Late Birth registration lawsuits are non-contentious. These lawsuits do not question the nationality of the father of the child as the latter is already established.24 The jurisprudence confirm the non-contentious nature of these lawsuits for it considers “civil status” lawsuits are related to the registration of events such as birth, marriage, divorce. However, a third party may intercept if affected by the judgement within 8 days of the date of the notification of the judgement or during the execution procedures. The court may also decide on its own to bring a third party in the lawsuit, if it sees it necessary to safeguard the rights of a third party.25 Below, a brief description of the profile and legal grounds of a number of registration lawsuits that are related to: 1) children born within a marriage to a Lebanese father or affiliated to a Lebanese grandfather; 2) children born out of wedlock of Lebanese parents. A. Jus Sanguinis Lawsuits - Children born to a Lebanese father - Article 1 (1) of decision 15/1925 Under this legal ground 40 lawsuits were filed. The cases vary between a) registration of children born to a Lebanese father upon the child’s birth, b) children born to unregistered fathers and who acquired the Lebanese nationality by judicial ruling after the child’s birth, and c) children of unregistered fathers (Maktoum alQayd) who in turn have Lebanese fathers. Twenty-eight cases included request rectification of parents’ marital status as this is a prerequisite to register the birth of their children. These concern mainly the marriage of a Lebanese man with an unregistered woman for such marriages cannot be registered automatically with the civil administration.26 In general, these cases must provide evidence of parents’ marriage registration, the confirmation of the Lebanese nationality of the father, and the legal filiation of the child to his Lebanese father or grandfather. There are some children born from a second marriage to parents of different religions, one of which prohibits polygyny. They resort to the courts to request their registration as legitimate children provided that one parents can prove that the marriage was concluded in good faith i.e., not knowing the existence of a serious impediment. Children born before the father acquired the nationality by judicial ruling may file a registration lawsuit ex post facto of the father’s registration ruling.27 The same applies to children born to an unregistered father affiliated to a Lebanese father. In this case, they have to proof the father affiliation to a Lebanese grandfather and request marital status rectification for the grandfather prior to registering the unregistered father under the grandfather’s record. This will be followed by rectifying the father’s marital status and the registration of their children. SEEKING NATIONALITY | PART 2 FRONTIERS RIGHTS 38