and that both types of status are explicitly recognised when applicable. This can take place both in a joint
and in separate procedures. If determining statelessness requires contact and information-sharing with the
authorities of the country of origin (which is strictly prohibited where applicants claim a well-founded fear of
persecution unless it is established that there is no such well-founded fear and all appeal rights to such a finding
have been exhausted), statelessness determination shall be suspended and refugee status determination
should proceed. If such contact is not necessary for establishing statelessness, the two procedures can run
in parallel, but even in these cases refugee status determination may be prioritised in order to maximise
efficiency and also in view of the greater rights owing under the 1951 Refugee Convention.36
B) Existing good practices
All existing models separate the statelessness determination procedure from refugee status determination. The
Philippines and Georgia were the first states to clearly codify the relationship between the two procedures,
in line with UNHCR guidance. The regulation of the Philippines stipulates that where during statelessness
determination
²...³ a refugee claim appears to exist, the stateless status determination shall, with the consent of the Applicant,
be suspended and the application shall be considered first for refugee status determination. If the claim to
refugee status is denied with finality, the stateless status determination shell recommence automatically.37
Georgian regulation includes a similar provision stipulating that if any circumstance indicating a potential
need of international protection (refugee or humanitarian status) is revealed, statelessness determination
shall be suspended, and within 3 working days the case file should be transferred to the asylum authority38
for the determination of refugee or humanitarian status.39
Another important good practice can be retrieved in the policy guidance of the United Kingdom, which
clearly stipulates that
Under no circumstances is contact to be made with the authorities of a State (or with any official state-sponsored
organisations) against which an individual has previously made an asylum claim unless it has finally been concluded
(i.e. the applicant is appeals rights exhausted and has no outstanding further submissions) that he or she is
neither a refugee nor entitled to subsidiary protection. Even so, there should be no disclosure of the details or the
rejection of an asylum claim, and it would be good practice to ensure that the applicant consents to the contact
36 For detailed guidance see UNHCR Statelessness Guidelines 2, Para 14 and 26-30
37 Department Circular No. 058 – Establishing the Refugees and Stateless Status Determination Procedure, Department of Justice, 18 October
2012, Section 8
38 Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons from the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees
39 Georgian President’s Decree: Approving the Rules for Stateless Status Determination, No. 515, 27 June 2012, Section 6 (4)
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