Legal briefing: Statelessness and the right to respect for private and family life October 2024 The right to birth registration In the landmark G.T.B. v. Spain case, the ECtHR found that the right to respect for private life includes a right to birth registration.119 Birth registration is key to preventing statelessness and ensuring every child can acquire a nationality, establishing their legal identity and family links.120 Yet, some children in Europe still face the risk of statelessness due to persisting barriers to birth registration. The case concerns the consequences of a nine-year delay in processing a request to obtain a birth certificate and its impact on the applicant's private life. The Court found that “the lack of birth registration and valid documents can cause significant problems in a person’s daily life”121 and that Spanish authorities failed to carry out their positive obligations to assist the applicant in obtaining documentation, resulting in a violation of Article 8 ECHR.122 The Court found a violation of Article 8, in a groundbreaking case regarding children’s right to a birth certificate. The applicant was born in Mexico and repatriated to Spain after an earthquake. Despite his mother’s attempts, his birth was not registered upon arrival in Spain as the necessary documentation had been destroyed by the earthquake in Mexico, and he was issued with an ID card only at 21. The Court found that, upon becoming aware of the situation, Spanish authorities were under a positive obligation to assist the applicant in obtaining documentation and the failure to do so resulted in a violation of Article 8 ECHR. While recognising States’ discretion in determining registration procedures,123 the Court emphasised the positive obligation of authorities to ensure a fair balance between competing interests and to facilitate birth registration to effectively protect individuals’ rights.124 Accordingly, the Court went beyond considering whether the procedure to register births had been adequate, stating that public authorities must act diligently to assist individuals in obtaining birth certificates and identity documents in cases where they face obstacles beyond their control.125 The Court also relied on the best interest of the child to have their births registered.126 Importantly, the ECtHR not only established a connection between birth registration and Article 8 but constructed birth registration as an intrinsic feature of the right to respect for private life. Consequently, the scope of its evaluation broadened to include the applicant's “right to a recognised identity” in addition to assessing the repercussions of lacking a birth certificate on the applicant’s education and employment prospects.127 The Court also explicitly noted that the right to respect for private life includes “ where 119 ECtHR, G.T.B. v. Spain (application no. 3041/19), 16 November 2023, para 118. See generally ENS, Birth Registration and the Prevention of Statelessness in Europe (July 2020). 121 ECtHR, G.T.B. v. Spain (application no. 3041/19), 16 November 2023, paragraph 118. 122 ECtHR, G.T.B. v. Spain (application no. 3041/19), 16 November 2023, paragraph 131. 123 ECtHR, G.T.B. v. Spain (application no. 3041/19), 16 November 2023, paragraph 119. 124 ECtHR, G.T.B. v. Spain (application no. 3041/19), 16 November 2023, paragraph 122. 125 ECtHR, G.T.B. v. Spain (application no. 3041/19), 16 November 2023, paragraph 124. 126 ECtHR, G.T.B. v. Spain (application no. 3041/19), 16 November 2023, paragraph 124. 127 ECtHR, G.T.B. v. Spain (application no. 3041/19), 16 November 2023, paragraph 122. 120 22