"THE OPERATION OF LAW" IN STATELESSNESS DETERMINATIONS UNDER THE 1954 STATELESSNESS CONVENTION.

The 1954 Statelessness Convention deems a person to be stateless when the person is "not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law." Frequently, when adjudicators attempt to determine an individual's nationality, they do so with sole reference to the nationality law of the applicant's country of origin. The ordinary meaning, context, object, and purpose of this Convention's definition demonstrate that the "operation of law" includes not just nationality law, but also other legal provisions including civil registration law as well as state practice. States might fail to properly implement a nationality law, might implement it in an arbitrary or discriminatory fashion, or might implement the nationality law in light of other legal provisions or practices. In any of these cases, adopting a totality approach to an applicant's claim of statelessness is necessary to reach an accurate outcome and to protect stateless individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]