Legal briefing: Statelessness and the right to respect for private and family life October 2024 identification document from Lebanon were insufficient proof of identity and statelessness status. Article 8 ECHR was also used in Slovenia,221 in a similar context as Kurić v. Slovenia.222 In a case where the applicant lived for 52 years in Slovenia, in the middle of which he was ‘erased’ from the register of permanent residents, and appealed against the rejection of this application for permission to stay following a return decision, the Administrative Court found that specific circumstances must be taken into account when considering the applicant’s stay in Slovenia. In particular, the length of his residence, his social status, and statelessness were necessary considerations to ensure that the applicant’s right to respect for his private life was respected. The Luxembourg Administrative Court of Appeal223 ruled that a family reunification application should be assessed taking into consideration the right to respect for private and family life. In a case concerning Palestinian applicants from Syria without Syrian nationality, where a minor child was granted international protection in Luxembourg and applied for family reunification for her parents, the Court found that the authorities should have taken into account the family life in Syria between the child and her parents, considering her young age, vulnerability, psychological distress since her separation from her parents. By failing to do so, the decision refusing family reunification disproportionately infringed the child’s right under Article 8 ECHR and disregarded the best interests of the child. In Italy, the Court of Cassation224 held that a comparative assessment between the objective and subjective conditions in the country of origin of the applicant and the level of integration in the host country must be carried out to determine if there is a right to humanitarian protection. When a significant level of integration has been reached in the host country, humanitarian protection shall be granted if return to the country of origin is likely to result in a considerable deterioration of the private and/or family life conditions of the applicant, in violation of Article 8 ECHR. Acquisition of nationality Although regional and international case law has consistently noted that nationality is an element of personal identity and that its denial may lead to an interference with a person’s right to respect for private and family life, national courts have at times been more reluctant to rely on this right to protect the right to a nationality. An example from an administrative court in Luxembourg relates to a naturalisation request made by a stateless person who had resided in Luxembourg for decades, which was denied due to a criminal record. Even though the applicant was stateless, the court 221 Slovenia, Administrative Court, Judgment no. II U 503/2016-9, 22 August 2018. ECtHR, Kurić and others v. Slovenia (application no. 26828/06), 26 June 2012. 223 Luxembourg, Administrative Court, judgement no. 46806C. 224 Italy, Court of Cassation, case no 24413/2021. It should be noted that a new regime for humanitarian protection has now been adopted since this judgment was delivered, therefore this case might not be fully applicable in this new framework. 222 37