Design due process into adult identification systems The key procedural elements to make new identification systems operate to include rather than exclude are to ensure that a person without the correct documentation is not simply sent away from a service desk, but assisted to resolve their status and determine their nationality, including referral systems, legal and paralegal assistance, acceptance of alternative forms of evidence if civil registration documents are not available, and the right of appeal to independent oversight mechanisms and the courts. Minimum legal standards Universal birth registration and better procedures should, in principle, resolve or prevent statelessness in the majority of cases. However, there are some people for whom it will not be possible to establish an existing nationality, or who are not able to acquire nationality on application, because the legislation governing nationality does not permit it.25 In these cases, legal reform is needed to grant nationality to those born or resident in the country who have no provable claim to a nationality in any other state. UNHCR has extensive guidance on these minimum protections.26 25 Manby, “‘Legal Identity for All’ and Statelessness.” 26 UNHCR, “Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons”; UNHCR, “Guidelines on Statelessness No. 4.” Statelessness and digital identity 10