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.
24 cases found
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A.M. (on behalf of M.K.A.H.) v. Switzerland
Date of decision: 22 September 2021
Region/country: Europe / Switzerland
Admissibility The Committee considered that the Applicant had sufficiently substantiated, for the purpose of admissibility, the complaints under Articles 3(1), 6(2), 7, 12, 16, 22, 27, 28, 37 and 39 UNCRC by which: (i) the State has not respected the best interests of the child nor heard the child at the time of the hearing of the asylum request and; (ii) the child runs a…
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African Centre of Justice and Peace Studies (ACJPS) And People's Legal Aid Centre (PLACE) v Sudan
Date of decision: 04 May 2018
Region/country: Africa / Sudan
The Committee found the Respondent: violated its obligation under Article 3 of the Charter on non-discrimination; violated Article 6(3) and 6(4) of the Charter on the right to nationality and the prevention of statelessness; as a consequence of the above violations, also violated Article 11 of the Charter on the right to education; and did not violate Articles 18(1) and 19(1) of the Charter on…
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Andrejeva v. Latvia
Date of decision: 18 February 2009
Region/country: Europe / Latvia
The Court rejected the preliminary objections concerning victim status and jurisdiction, finding that the Government had lodged each inadmissibility complaint out of time according to the Rules of the Court. These objections were also dismissed on substantive grounds, with the Court holding that the Applicant’s situation remained unchanged despite the passing of the 2008 Latvia–Russia agreement, and consequently that her status as a victim under…
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Anudo Ochieng Anudo v United Republic of Tanzania
Date of decision: 22 March 2018
Region/country: Africa / Tanzania
The Court noted that the application invoked the violation of three fundamental rights (in addition to other incidental rights): (i) the rights under Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to nationality and not to be arbitrarily deprived of nationality; (ii) the right under Article 13 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (‘ICCPR’) not to be arbitrarily expelled; and (iii)…
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Audiencia Provincial de Guipúzcoa
Date of decision: 11 May 2022
Region/country: Europe / Spain
On the Statelessness of the Child The Court of Appeal upheld the First Instance Court's conclusion that the child was stateless, a finding supported by an interpretation provided by a lead expert of the UNHCR, which was produced as evidence. The Government of Spain did not challenge this conclusion on appeal. Applying the definition under Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention, the Court found that…
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Case of the Yean and Bosico Children v. The Dominican Republic
Date of decision: 08 September 2005
Region/country: Americas / Dominican Republic
The Court unanimously rejected the State’s three preliminary objections to the children’s application, and ultimately found that the State had violated several rights under the American Convention. The Court emphasised that nationality is a fundamental human right enshrined in the American Convention and as a political and legal bond that connects a person to a specific State, it allows the individual to acquire and exercise…
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Centre for Child Law v Director-General Department of Home Affairs and Others
Date of decision: 22 September 2021
Region/country: Africa / South Africa
The majority of the Constitutional Court of South Africa held that Section 10 of the Act is unconstitutional as it is discriminatory against unmarried fathers on the basis of sex, gender and marital status, and is inconsistent with the best interests of children and their rights to dignity, equality, a name and nationality. The Court found that Section 10 of the Act resulted in a…
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Constitutional Court Decision 6/2015 (II. 25.)
Date of decision: 23 February 2015
Region/country: Europe / Hungary
The Constitutional Court had to decide whether Section 76(1) of the Third-Country Nationals Act was in accordance with the Fundamental Law of Hungary, in particular section Q(2) thereof, and therefore whether it was in line with the 1954 Convention. The Constitutional Court found the judicial initiative to be in part well-founded. It stated that the contested provision primarily affects stateless forced migrants who have never…
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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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G.T.B. v Spain
Date of decision: 16 November 2023
Region/country: Europe / Spain
Legal Classification of Complaints The European Court of Human Rights (‘the Court’) acknowledged that ill-treatment in breach of Article 3 of the Convention requires a minimum level of severity. In the present case, the Court had not received evidence to meet the threshold required by Article 3, so examined the case under Article 8. In addition, the Court recognised that the right to respect for…
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This initiative has been made possible with the support of UNHCR, the European Network on Statelessness, and Mallesons.