Case summaries
Germany - Federal Administrative Court, 26 February 2009, 10 C 50.07
Country of applicant:
Azerbaijan, Russia
Keywords:
Assessment of facts and circumstances, Country of former habitual residence, Individual assessment, Internal protection, Persecution (acts of), Personal circumstances of applicant, Safe third country, Stateless person
- The denial of citizenship may represent a severe violation of basic human rights according to Art. 9.1 (a) of the Qualification Directive.
- In assessing the severity of the violation of rights caused by the denial of citizenship, under Art. 4.3 of the Qualification Directive, the individual situation and personal circumstances of the person concerned have to be taken into account.
- A person is stateless according to Section 3 (1) of the Asylum Procedure Act, if no state considers him/her as a national under its own law, i.e. a de jure stateless person. For de-facto stateless persons, therefore, a threat of persecution has to be established with reference to the state of their de jure nationality.
- The habitual residence of a stateless person under Section 3 (1) of the Asylum Procedure Act does not need to be lawful. It is sufficient if the focus of the stateless person’s life is in the country, and therefore the stateless person did not merely spend a short time there, and the competent authorities did not initiate measures to terminate his/her residence.
Date of decision:
15-02-2009
UK - Court of Appeal , 9 August 2008, MA (Palestinian Territories) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2008] EWCA Civ 304
Country of applicant:
Palestinian Territory
It is not in principle persecution to deny a stateless person re-entry to their country of formal habitual residence. However, it may be persecution for a state to arbitrarily exclude one of its nationals.
Date of decision:
09-08-2008
UK - Court of Appeal, 31 July 2000, Revenko v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2000] EWCA Civ 500
Country of applicant:
Moldova
A stateless person who is outside his or her country of former habitual residence and is unable to return there is not a refugee unless he or she is unable to return owing to a fear of persecution for a Convention reason.
Date of decision:
31-07-2000