Global Caselaw Database on Statelessness
The Global Caselaw Database on Statelessness was established to strengthen access to jurisprudence on nationality, statelessness, and related human rights issues. It provides a practical resource for lawyers, academics, advocates, and decision-makers, complementing UNHCR and the Open Society Justice Initiative’s ‘Litigating the Right to Nationality: A Guide for Practitioners’ by bringing together decisions from courts and tribunals across different jurisdictions.
The database covers judgments that address statelessness directly, such as where the applicant is stateless or at risk of statelessness.
The Global Caselaw Database on Statelessness is an evolving tool and new cases will be added incrementally.
Want to offer feedback or suggest a case for inclusion in the Database? Contact our team
This initiative has been made possible with the support of UNHCR, the European Network on Statelessness, and Mallesons.
8 cases found
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Dabetić v. Italy
Date of decision: 18 October 2022
Region/country: Europe / Italy
The Court considered that it was not necessary to address the Government’s objection of non-exhaustion of domestic remedies, as the application was inadmissible in any event, for the following reasons. Referring to the case of Kuric and Others v. Slovenia (no. 26828/06), the Court observed that in the present case the Tribunal of Rome has recognised the Applicant’s status of a stateless person in 2013.…
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East African Asians v The United Kingdom
Date of decision: 14 December 1973
Region/country: Europe / United Kingdom
The Commission considered that the six applications brought by British protected persons must be distinguished from the 25 cases of CUKCs as British protected persons, according to English law, are not British subjects and remained subject to immigration control under the 1962 Act. The Commission held that the legislation was not discriminatory and did not constitute ‘degrading treatment’ under Article 3 in relation to British…
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Hoti v Croatia
Date of decision: 26 July 2018
Region/country: Europe / Croatia
The Court found that the Applicant's case did not concern an ‘erasure’ from residence registers, as the evidence showed he lacked a registered residence in Croatia at the time of independence. The Court noted that the Applicant’s case should be distinguished from cases concerning ‘settled migrants’, namely persons who had already been formally granted a right of residence in a host country and where a…
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IHRDA (on behalf of Esmaila Connateh & 13 others) v Angola
Date of decision: 22 May 2008
Region/country: Africa / Republic of Angola
While the Complainant made written submissions on the merits, the Respondent made no submissions despite being given opportunities to do so. In those circumstances, the Commission decided to consider the Complainant’s case. The Commission also considered the ‘exhaustion of local remedies rule’ but noted there were no domestic remedies available to the deportees as the circumstances of their arrest, detention and deportation did not allow…
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Mulowayi and Others v Minister of Home Affairs and Another
Date of decision: 29 January 2019
Region/country: Africa / South Africa
The Court held that the High Court’s declaration of invalidity of regulation 3(2)(a) did not need confirmation, because Section 172(2)(a) of the Constitution only requires confirmation for Acts of Parliament, provincial laws, or conduct by the President, not for regulations made by Ministers. As a result, the Applicants’ request for confirmation was refused as unnecessary. The Court also found that the High Court had erred…
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Rattigan and Others v. Chief Immigration Officer of Zimbabwe
Date of decision: 13 June 1994
Region/country: Africa / Zimbabwe
Legal Framework and Interpretive Approach The Court considered the language in Section 11 of the Declaration of Rights, which stated that ‘every person in Zimbabwe is entitled to the fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, that is to say, the right whatever his race, tribe, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex, but subject to respect for the rights and freedoms of…
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Sisojeva and Others v. Latvia
Date of decision: 15 January 2007
Region/country: Europe / Latvia
The Grand Chamber’s assessment proceeded from the Chamber's 2005 judgment, which had found a violation of Article 8. The Court began by emphasising the subsidiary nature of the Convention system and addressed the Applicants’ claim that domestic law governing the Applicants’ residence entitlements had been wrongly applied. It reiterated that its role under Article 19 of the Convention is limited to ensuring compliance with the…
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Sudita Keita v. Hungary
Date of decision: 12 May 2020
Region/country: Europe / Hungary
The Court applied the general principles established in Hoti v Croatia(application no. 63311/14). The Court cited in paragraphs 119-123 of that case (paragraph 31). The Court began by establishing that “the principal question to be examined…is whether, having regard to the circumstances as a whole, the Hungarian authorities, pursuant to Article 8, provided an effective and accessible procedure or a combination of procedures enabling the…
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This initiative has been made possible with the support of UNHCR, the European Network on Statelessness, and Mallesons.