A/HRC/13/34 by misrepresentation or fraud. Certain additional exceptions are provided for in paragraph 3, but they may only be applied if the State expressly indicates its intention to retain them in its national law at the time of signature, ratification or accession. However, as exceptions to a general principle, they should be narrowly construed. 28. Concerning regional instruments, it should be noted that article 7 (3) of the 1997 European Convention on Nationality allows for deprivation of nationality resulting in statelessness only in cases of misrepresentation and fraud. In its recommendation R (1999) 18 on the avoidance and reduction of statelessness, the Council of Ministers of the Council of Europe recommended that “a State should not necessarily deprive of its nationality persons who have acquired its nationality by fraudulent conduct, false information or concealment of any relevant fact. To this effect, the gravity of the facts, as well as other relevant circumstances, such as the genuine and effective link of these persons with the State concerned, should be taken into account”. 29. Concerning the right of a person to acquire a nationality, it should be recalled the general principle established in article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that everyone has the right to a nationality. It is generally recognized that acquisition of nationality can take place at birth through the application of the principles of jus soli or of jus sanguinis, or by naturalization. Nationality can be acquired automatically by operation of law, at birth or at a later stage, or as a result of an act of the administrative authorities. States enjoy a degree of discretion with regard to the criteria governing acquisition of nationality, but these criteria must not be arbitrary. In order not to be arbitrary, denial of access to a nationality must be in conformity with domestic law and standards of international law, in particular the principle of proportionality. 30. As stated earlier, the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides that children should have the right from birth to, inter alia, acquire a nationality. Similar guarantees can be found in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other international and regional instruments; for example, the Committee on the Rights of the Child reiterates in its general comment No. 11 that States parties are obliged to ensure that all children are registered immediately after birth and that they acquire a nationality. The Committee has further emphasized this position in a number of concluding observations, in which it stated, inter alia, that articles 2 and 7 of the Convention require that all children within the State party’s jurisdiction have the right to be registered and acquire a nationality, irrespective of the child’s or his or her parents’ or legal guardians’ sex, race, religion or ethnic origin. 31. Article 2 (1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides that States parties undertake to respect and to ensure to all individuals within their territory and subject to their jurisdiction the rights recognized in the Covenant, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, article 26 prohibits discrimination on these grounds. In its general comment No. 18, the Human Rights Committee indicates that article 26 prohibits discrimination in law or in fact in any field regulated and protected by public authorities; it is therefore concerned with the obligations imposed on States parties with regard to their legislation thereof. This would include nationality legislation and its application. Moreover, in application of the principle of non-discrimination, the Committee, in its general comment No. 24, states that no discrimination with regard to the acquisition of nationality should be admissible under internal law as between legitimate children and children born out of wedlock or of stateless parents, or based on the nationality status of one or both parents. 32. The principle of non-discrimination is clearly recognized in article 9 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, which prohibits distinctions between men and women with regard to acquisition of nationality and in relation to acquisition of nationality by their children. Such discrimination against 8 GE.09-17512