CASE NOTE
AS (GUINEA) v SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME
DEPARTMENT [2018] EWCA CIV 2234
JUDITH CARTER*
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction........................................................................................................... 336
Facts of the Case ................................................................................................... 337
Analysis of the Judgment ...................................................................................... 338
A Main Arguments ....................................................................................... 338
B Determination of the Appropriate Standard of Proof ............................... 339
Analysis ................................................................................................................ 340
A Standard of Proof ...................................................................................... 340
B Need to Apply for a Nationality ............................................................... 341
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 341
INTRODUCTION
The decision of AS (Guinea) v Secretary of State for the Home Department 1 is an
important United Kingdom case because it establishes the standard of proof to be
applied in the UK in determining whether a person is stateless under art 1(1) of
the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (‘1954
Convention’). 2
The Court of Appeal of England and Wales decided that, in determining
whether a person is stateless in accordance with art 1(1) of the 1954 Convention,
the applicable standard of proof is the balance of probabilities. 3 In doing so, it
rejected all seven of the arguments raised by the appellant and United Nations
*
1
2
3
Judith Carter is In-House Solicitor and Lecturer at the University of Liverpool Law Clinic (a
member of the European Network on Statelessness and Immigration Law Practitioners’
Association). She is co-author, with Sarah Woodhouse, of A Best Practice Guide:
Statelessness and Applications for Leave to Remain (University of Liverpool 2016); and coauthor, with Johanna Bezzano, of the University of Liverpool report: Statelessness in Practice
(Report, 2018). Many thanks to Cynthia Orchard of Consonant for her comments.
[2018] EWCA Civ 2234 (‘AS (Guinea)’).
Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, opened for signature 28 September
1954, 360 UNTS 117 (entered into force 6 June 1960) art 1(1). The United Kingdom is a
dualist system, so international agreements do not have legal effect in the domestic system
until incorporated in domestic legislation. The UK is a state party to the 1954 Convention, but
only the art 1(1) definition of a stateless person is expressly referenced in the Immigration
Rules 1994 (UK) HC 395, [401] (‘Immigration Rules’), introduced to the rules in April 2013
by the Statement of Changes in Immigration Rules 2013 (UK) HC 1039 s 124. Amendments
to the Immigration Rules are now announced online: see ‘Immigration Rules Part 14:
Statelessness’,
Government
of
the
United
Kingdom
(Web
Page)
<https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-part-14-statelesspersons>.
AS (Guinea) (n 1) [28]–[29].