have one. In modern societies this is taken for granted, but it is worth noting that
these stipulations represent a contingent form of social organization and still
have not been implemented universally. The European Network on Statelessness
estimates the number of stateless persons worldwide at more than 15 million.
For all states committed to UDHR Article 1, these persons represent legal and
moral difficulties, because, for the conditions of Article 7 of the Convention on
the Rights of the Child to hold comprehensively, borders are indispensable—
borders separating individuals and borders separating states.
These borders define the relations between citizen and state. The point of
departure is the assumption of autonomous individuals who can be distinguished
one from another. Their identity is indicated and certified by a personal name (or
legal name) that refers to one individual. As a matter of principle, personal
names should single out one and only one individual from the whole set of
citizens. In reality, this is not always the case, witness John Smith.
Most countries have a name law regulating family names, the naming of married
couples, the gender of forenames, the names of children born in and out of
wedlock, and in some cases, what first names may be used. Names have a strong
link to their bearers’ identities, like trademarks that have to be registered for
ownership to be secured. Changing one’s name is difficult and will not be
effected without a legal deed. Only with a name will you be recognized as
having rights and obligations. You are not free to call yourself John today and
Mary tomorrow or to decide henceforth to go through life without a name; for
without a name you have no identity, in the legal sense of the word. Dissociating
your legal name from your writer’s name by using a pseudonym has legal
implications, too. If a writer does not make it known to the publisher that he/she
is using a pseudonym, this will be a breach of contract, and the author’s
copyright may be affected. What is more, if you do not register a trademark for
your pseudonym, others may use it.
Legal codes define rights, duties, and other legal characteristics for ‘normal
persons’ who can be identified unmistakably. Only normal persons enjoy the
privileges offered by the law and can be expected to abide by the law. Statutory
registers for birth, death, marriage, guardianship, adoption, gender recognition,
etc. assume and require the unambiguous identity of those registered. Similarly,
the law assumes that the parties to registered contracts, land ownership, and
litigation can be identified without difficulty. Without these and some other