Legal briefing: Statelessness and the right to respect for private and family life
October 2024
The right to an effective remedy
The right to an effective remedy must similarly be applied in relation to another
substantive provision of the ECHR. Article 13 ECHR imposes a positive obligation on
Contracting States to ensure access to effective remedies for any arguable violation of
a Convention protected right.211 Any remedy must be available in practice and in law and
the ability to exercise the remedy “must not be unjustifiably hindered by the acts or
omissions of the authorities”.212
Right to an effective remedy
Everyone whose rights and freedoms as set forth in this Convention are violated shall have
an effective remedy before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been
committed by persons acting in an official capacity.
The effects of delays or lengthy proceedings may be compounded by, for example,
periods of legal uncertainty and the vulnerability of stateless persons.213 As such, the
‘speediness’ of a remedy is also a relevant consideration.214 The fact that individuals may
be able to eventually access a remedy may still result in a violation of Article 13 ECHR if
it cannot be accessed and executed within a reasonable time.
Due to the vulnerability and precarious status of stateless persons, the failure to provide
effective and accessible mechanism to regularise status and obtain residence permits
may effectively deny stateless persons of legal personality.215 Stateless persons may
therefore be routinely denied access to effective remedies to challenge unjustified
interferences with the right to private and family life.
211
ECtHR, Silver and Others v. the United Kingdom (applications nos. 5947/72; 6205/73; 7052/75; 7061/75; 7107/75;
7113/75; 7136/75), 25 March 1983, paragraph 113.
212 ECtHR, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece (application no. 30696/09), 21 January 2011, paragraph 290.
213
ECtHR, Kurić and others v. Slovenia (application no. 26828/06), 26 June 2012, paragraph 267.
214 ECtHR, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece (application no. 30696/09), 21 January 2011, paragraph 292.
215 ECtHR, Kurić and others v. Slovenia (application no. 26828/06), 26 June 2012, Partly Concurring, Partly dissenting
opinion of Judge Vučinić. See also paragraph 356.
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