SEEKING NATIONALITY THE JUDICIAL ODYSSEY OF APPLICANTS be subject to a decision by the Administration or a decree, while the law, based on the Treaty of Lausanne (Law No. 68/1967),55 clearly stipulates that such cases fall under the jurisdiction of the courts alone. In a similar way, the State considers, in another case, that the “acquisition” of the Lebanese nationality by an adult whose father is Lebanese requires a Naturalization Decree, as the State confuses between naturalization and the acquisition of nationality by law (de jure). Persistent Problems in Providing Proof of Evidence Providing proof of evidence constitutes a fundamental pillar in nationality and registration lawsuits, as well as all other types of lawsuits, because such cases are built upon material facts that should be supported with relevant and strong evidence and proof that satisfy the conditions of the conditions set by the law. Prove of Evidence falls within the jurisdiction and absolute authority of the Courts. According to Article 132 of the Lebanese Code of Civil Procedure, the burden of proof lies with the person who brings a claim in a dispute. This is confirmed by the jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation.56 All means of proof are admissible in nationality and civil status lawsuits.57 Moreover, non-contentious registration lawsuits are subject to the judge’s conviction, which shall be based upon the conducted investigations which the judge deems as beneficial and useful for the case, and which might provide him/her with further information in this regard, as well as the facts relevant to the case, even if the Applicant does not invoke or claim such facts.58 Many Applicants of Lebanese origin or have historical roots in Lebanon do not have all the documents that allow them to initiate legal proceedings. They face difficulties in obtaining the necessary personal documentation from the official and non-official sources to support their claims such as from midwives, mukhtars (for those who have no records at all) and the Administration (for those who have records) during the whole process from building the case to during the court proceedings and after. This is due to a number of reasons and factors. The Applicants face difficulties to prove birth in Lebanon as the majority were given birth by unofficial midwives most of them passed away long time ago, or the parents did not obtain a birth notification from the midwives at birth of their children. Additionally, many Applicants, for a number of reasons, do not possess a marriage contract either they conducted the marriage orally or lost it and did not proceed to correct their marital situation before the religious court to obtain of proof of marriage and kinship. In some cases, obtaining such rulings becomes extremely difficult if the marriage in question dates to several generations back. The same applies to Mukhtars who unjustifiably refuse to issue documentation that fall under their authorities. For example, in one of the cases, the Mukhtar refused to issue a birth certificate for a child whose father wanted to file a lawsuit to court in order to register his son under his record. The Mukhtar argued that issuing such a certificate would subject him to interrogation by the General Security or, and he also refused to mention the child’s name in the proof of residence issued to the father because there is nothing that proves the child is his son. In another case, the Mukhtar refused to issue an Identification (Ta’rif) Certificate, proof of residence, and a laissez-passer passport application claiming that it is not within his authority. to take on such matters and therefore asked for the opinion of the General Security. The economic burden in another factor that many Applicants face in their efforts to obtain documentation A large number - when that is possible – as the cost exceeds their of State’s counter financial abilities. For example, the Mukhtars, arguments contain sometimes ask for exorbitant, unjustified fees to issue misunderstanding personal identification documents. Also, lawsuits before religious courts to prove marriage or kinship become and/or confusion more expensive if the marriage and kinship in question of legal concepts, go back to several generations back. or incorrectly use The difficulties and obstacles to obtain documentation of laws not related to support their lawsuits claims extend during court to nationality and proceedings. In many lawsuits, the courts request civil status cases. additional documentation that are either irrelevant, unjustified, or inaccessible and quasi-impossible to obtain as they may be available solely with the Administration but not accessible to the individuals. This is particularly the case when the courts request evidence to the Applicants ancestors’ roots and origin. The Applicants are unable to access the Administration microfilms or archives to extract copy from the archived Ottoman records either to prove they are of Ottoman origin, or that they historically resided in Lebanon, or that they do not hold any other nationality, or their ancestors were registered in one of the various populations censuses up to 1932. This was evident in the review of the lawsuits. For example, in one lawsuit involving a naturalized Appellant as single requesting the registration of his children who were minor at the time of naturalization, the Court of Appeal requested that the Appellant presents a true copy of the documents submitted to the competent authority for naturalization. The Appellant was not able to provide such documents as he did not keep a copy of the original application before submitting it to the Administration, and it was difficult for him to access his file to retrieve copies. Considering the burden of prove lies in the Appellant, the court did not consider issuing a court order explicitly requesting from the Administration submission of these documents. In another lawsuit involving the registration of an adult child in the Lebanese father’s civil status record, the submitted documentation included a proof of marriage and kinship issued by the Shari’a’s court which proves the legitimacy of parenthood within the framework of SEEKING NATIONALITY | PART 3 FRONTIERS RIGHTS 66