2021
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
3(1)
notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the rejection of citizenship and send the
file to reactivate the SDP.
Argentina: Law No 27.512 ‘Recognition and Protection of Statelessness
Persons’ (‘Law No 27.512’) 84
Article 49 of Law No 27.512 states that:
when the National Commission for Refugees (‘CONARE’) determines, based on
the documentation presented and the events argued in the application or interview,
the person would have been born in Argentinian territory without a timely birth
registry, the statelessness determination procedure will be suspended and the case
will be communicated to the correspondent civil registry authority to proceed with
the late birth registration. If the late birth registration procedure concludes without
the person being registered as a national, the administrative or judicial decision will
be communicated to CONARE to continue with the SDP.
Argentina relies on CONARE’s discretion to determine whether to conduct a
consultation and, accordingly, whether to proceed with the suspension of the SDP
in cases where the applicant may be an Argentinian national. The decision is made
according to the evidence available, either during the application phase or after the
interview is conducted.
The law does not provide a timeframe for the national civil registry system to
respond to CONARE’s request, nor a timeframe in which to decide if the applicant
has a right to nationality and late birth registration. Despite the gaps in this law, it
requires the SDP to continue if the applicant is not registered in the civil registry.
However, the law requires that CONARE receive a notification through a final
judicial or administrative decision rejecting the applicant as a national of the
country. This notification triggers the reactivation of the SDP, however, it involves
time and costs for the applicant to follow up procedures in different jurisdictions,
which often require the applicant to seek legal assistance.
Moldova: Law No 200 of 16 July 2010 on the Regime of Foreigners in the
Republic of Moldova (‘Law No 200’) 85
Article 87 of Law No 200 contains provisions for the rejection of the application
for the recognition of stateless status. Article 871(1)(e) states that the application
for the recognition of stateless status may be rejected if the applicant holds the
citizenship of the Republic of Moldova or of another state.
This law does not contain any disposition regulating the consultation and
suspension of the SDP in cases where there is a possibility that the applicant could
be a national of Moldova. The applicant must wait until the SDP ends and the
application rejected on the basis that the authority considers the applicant not
stateless but, rather, a national of Moldova. The authority is allocated six months
to one year to decide the application under art 872(1). However, if the process
presents delays, in practice, the applicant would not have access to national
recognition nor documentation. The law does not specify what process should be
84
85
Ley General No 27.512 ‘Reconocimiento y Protección de las Personas Apátridas’ [‘General
Law No 27.512 ‘Recognition and Protection of Statelessness Persons’] (2019) Boletín Oficial
(Argentina) (‘Argentinian Law 27.512’).
Moldovan Law No 200 (n 68).
80