Legal briefing on the rights of stateless Palestinians in the UK September 2025 international organisations cannot be considered equivalent to the rules that define who is a national of a certain State. (c) Recognition of Palestine as a State It is important to note that international recognition of the State of Palestine is not determinative of the nationality or stateless status of Palestinians in and of itself. The assessment of whether an individual is stateless must be grounded in the definition of a stateless person in Article 1 of the 1954 Convention and its application in practice by the authorities of the relevant country. Whether an individual is a national of a particular State can only be determined by the competent authority of that State. The recognition of Palestine by another State does not impact the legal status of Palestinians, as the factors outlined above (the lack of Palestinian sovereignty over its borders and the existence of a nationality law) do not change following such recognition. Many Palestinians remain unable to return to Palestine and to access diplomatic protection and other rights attached to a nationality. The act of recognising Palestine as a State is primarily an act of political expression, with limited factual or legal implications unless and until Palestine becomes a sovereign country with a functioning nationality law.47 Basing a determination of statelessness on whether a host State recognises the State of Palestine has resulted in inconsistent outcomes across different Contracting States to the 1954 Convention. This differentiated interpretation is incompatible with international law, as according to the principle of unity in treaty interpretation the 1954 Convention should be interpreted harmoniously and consistently across its Contracting States.48 Even if Palestine is recognised as a State by several countries, Palestinians who do not hold the nationality of another country should still be considered stateless under international law. The lack of a harmonised and consistent recognition that Palestinians are stateless has a significant impact on Palestinians’ ability to access protection and safeguards to prevent and reduce statelessness.49 47 Albanese and Takkenberg, Palestinian Refugees in International Law (fn 25) Part One (III), S. 3.2.2; Jesús Tolmo García, El problema de la apatridia en personas de Estados no reconocidos o de reconocimiento limitado y su incidencia en España (Universidad de Murcia, 2025). 48 International treaties should be interpreted in accordance with Articles 31–33 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) which do not support the idea of multiple contradictory interpretations of international legal provisions. 49 On the impact of the lack of recognition in safeguards to prevent childhood statelessness, see ENS, Briefing on the right to a nationality of children born to Palestinian parents in Belgium (2024). 13