A/HRC/13/34 proof for personal identification, a task that can be hampered by the effects of deprivation of nationality. In this respect, States could envisage adopting flexible rules for evidence, which would allow the person concerned to provide witness testimony or resort to various sources of documentary evidence (A/HRC/10/34, para. 59). IV. Right to a nationality in the context of State succession 47. In 1993, at its forty-fifth session, the International Law Commission decided to include in its agenda the topic entitled “State succession and its impact on the nationality of natural and legal persons”. The General Assembly endorsed this decision in its resolution 48/31. In its resolution 49/51, the Assembly also endorsed the intention of the Commission to undertake work on the topic. In its resolution 51/160, the Assembly requested the Commission to, inter alia, prepare draft articles in the form of a declaration to be adopted by the Assembly on the question of the nationality of natural persons. In its resolution 10/13, the Human Rights Council recalled General Assembly resolutions 55/153 and 59/34, in which the Assembly invited Member States to take into account the provisions of the draft articles on the nationality of natural persons contained in the annex to Council resolution 55/153 in dealing with issues of nationality in relation to the succession of States. 48. The International Law Commission adopted the draft articles on the nationality of natural persons in relation to the succession of States at its fifty-first session.8 It is worth noting that the draft articles are the result of an exhaustive analysis carried out by the Commission on the issue of nationality of natural persons in situations of State succession. While the Commission recognizes that there is a need for the codification and progressive development of international law in this area, it considered that the draft articles may be seen to reflect both lex lata and the Commission’s proposals de lege ferenda. As such, they provide guidance on the status of the question of acquisition, change and retention of nationality in situations of State succession. 49. In its commentary to the first paragraph of the preamble, the Commission recalled that the draft articles aimed at addressing the concern of the international community concerning the resolution of nationality problems in the case of succession of States. The Commission also recalled that, “as a result of this evolution in the field of human rights, the traditional approach based on the preponderance of the interests of States over the interests of individuals has subsided”. Accordingly, the Commission affirmed that, “in matters concerning nationality, the legitimate interests of both States and individuals should be taken into account”.9 The Commission also expressed its concern over the protection of human rights of persons whose nationality may be affected following a succession of States. While noting that State practice had concentrated on the obligation of newly created States to protect the human rights of all inhabitants of their territory without distinction, the Commission concluded that, as a matter of principle, it was important to safeguard basic rights and fundamental freedoms of all persons whose nationality could be affected by a succession, irrespective of their habitual residence. In practical terms, this problem was raised by the independent expert on minority issues in her 2008 report on the situation in certain European countries, in which a number of problems related particularly to the way citizenship and nationality had been construed in view of State succession and State 8 9 12 Ibid. Ibid., pp. 23–24. GE.09-17512