18. The standard of proof in the determination of statelessness is the same as in the asylum procedure. 25 There are procedural protections in the judicial procedure such as (conditional) free legal aid and a hearing; whereas in the administrative procedure there is no legal aid and no right to an interview. 26 Protection during the procedure is also limited as the practice of granting temporary residence to applicants is inconsistent.27 Negative decisions can be appealed, and those granted stateless status have a right to a residence permit, travel document, work, social security, healthcare and education, as well as a reduced residency requirement for naturalisation.28 Risk of Arbitrary Detention of Stateless Persons 19. Stateless persons face a heightened risk of arbitrary detention particularly where procedural safeguards to identify and determine statelessness and related barriers to removal are lacking.29 Such arbitrary detention would be in violation of Article 9 of the ICCPR. Italy is bound by the EU Returns Directive,30 which requires particular attention to be paid to the situation of vulnerable persons; and the revised EU Returns Handbook requires attention to be paid to the specific situation of stateless persons, ensuring that there is a reasonable prospect of removal prior to detaining or prolonging a person’s detention.31 There are gaps in Italian law with regard to safeguards against the arbitrary detention of stateless people. There is no requirement for a country of removal to be identified prior to detention and people at risk of statelessness, or whose statelessness has not been formally recognised in law, may be subject to detention and considered irregular migrants. 32 In practice, detention is used prior to the consideration or 25Corte Cassazione, Sentenza 4262/2015: http://www.apolidia.org/index.php/giurisprudenza/44-corte-dicassazione/100-cassazione-civile-sentenza-n-4262-del-03-03-2015 26Bianchini K., Protecting Stateless Persons. The Implementation of the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Across Europe (Brill 2018), pp. 171-172 27CIR, IN THE SUN, Survey on the phenomenon of statelessness among Roma communities living in Italy, February 2013: http://www.cir-onlus.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/In-the-sun_CIR_last-review_final.pdf; ASGI Project, Out of Limbo: Promoting the right of undocumented and stateless Roma migrants to a legal status in Italy: http://www.asgi.it/progetti/out-of-limbo-english-version/ 28Bianchini K., Protecting Stateless Persons. The Implementation of the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Across Europe (Brill 2018), p. 241 29ENS (2017) Protecting Stateless Persons from Arbitrary Detention: An Agenda for Change, https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/www.statelessness.eu/files/attachments/resources/ENS_LockeInLimbo_Detention _Agenda_online.pdf 30https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:348:0098:0107:en:PDF 31European Commission (2017) ANNEX to the COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION establishing a common "Return Handbook" to be used by Member States' competent authorities when carrying out return related tasks, https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/sites/homeaffairs/files/what-we-do/policies/european-agendamigration/20170927_recommendation_on_establishing_a_common_return_handbook_annex_en.pdf 32Decreto Legislativo 25 Luglio 1998, n. 286, Testo Unico delle Disposizioni Concernenti la Disciplina dell’immigrazione e Norme sulla Condizione dello Straniero, Art. 14: http://www.cir-onlus.org/2018/12/17/decreto-legislativo-25-luglio1998-n-286-testo-unico-delle-disposizioni-concernenti-la-disciplina-dellimmigrazione-e-norme-sulla-condizione-dellostraniero/; LEGGE 1 dicembre 2018, n. 132, Conversione in legge, con modificazioni, del decreto-legge 4 ottobre 2018, n. 113, recante disposizioni urgenti in materia di protezione internazionale e immigrazione, sicurezza pubblica, …etc. (18G00161) (GU Serie Generale n.281 del 03-12-2018): http://www.gazzettaufficiale.it/eli/id/2018/12/03/18G00161/sg 6