the sense of clarifying that status, rather than deciding whether to confer or withdraw it. Examples of such bodies are passport authorities or, in a limited number of States, civil registration officials (where nationality is indicated in acts of civil registration, in particular birth registration). It is possible that, in a particular case, more than one competent authority will emerge as a number of bodies may legitimately take positions regarding an individual’s nationality in the course of their designated activities. (v) Considerations where State practice contravenes automatic modes of acquisition of nationality 37. Where the competent authorities treat an individual as a non-national even though he or she would appear to meet the criteria for automatic acquisition of nationality under the operation of a country’s laws, it is their position rather than the letter of the law that is determinative in concluding that a State does not consider such an individual as a national. This scenario frequently arises where discrimination against a particular group is widespread in government departments or where, in practice, the law governing automatic acquisition at birth is systematically ignored and individuals are required instead to prove additional ties to a State.25 (vi) Assessing nationality in the absence of evidence of the position of competent authorities 16 38. There may be cases where an individual has never come into contact with a State’s competent authorities, perhaps because acquisition was automatic at birth and a person has lived in a region without public services and has never applied for identity documents or a passport. In such cases, it is important to assess the State’s general attitude in terms of nationality status of persons who are similarly situated. If the State has a good record in terms of recognising, in a non-discriminatory fashion, the nationality status of all those who appear to come within the scope of the relevant law, for example in the manner in which identity card applications are handled, this may indicate that the person concerned is considered as a national by the State. However, if the individual belongs to a group whose members are routinely denied identification documents issued only to nationals, this may indicate that he or she is not considered as a national by the State. 25 Where a State’s laws provides for automatic acquisition of nationality, but in practice a State places additional requirements on individuals to acquire nationality, this does not negate the automatic nature of the nationality law. Rather, it indicates that the State in practice does not consider those who do not satisfy the extra-legal requirements as nationals, potentially rendering them stateless under the Article 1(1) definition.