KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 6 -- If a baby is left with an adult by an unknown birth mother who then disappears permanently from the child's life, will the child receive the same constitutional protection against statelessness as a baby found by the roadside or at a baby hatch?

The Court of Appeal has ruled that the answer is "yes", holding that such a child has been "abandoned" as a newborn.

The decision is significant because it means the child can rely on the Federal Constitution's safeguards against statelessness and satisfy the legal requirements to automatically acquire Malaysian citizenship.

The ruling arose from the case of a girl, identified only as LS to protect her identity, who was born in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, and abandoned by...