120 Swider and den Heijer stateless persons, which should lead to a grant of temporary residence.76 This decision could not be implemented, however, because Art. 144 of the Belgian Constitution bestows the competence over the settlement of disputes relating to the civil status of persons on courts. Therefore, in the Government Agreement of October 2014, a renewed pledge is included to set up an ‘adequate procedure’ for recognising the status of stateless persons, which should lead to a grant of temporary residence, to be decided on by civil courts with an advisory role of the Commissariat général aux réfugiés et aux apatrides.77 In January 2012, the Belgian Constitutional Court had decided that the Belgian legislator should treat recognised stateless persons who have involuntarily lost their nationality and who cannot acquire residence in another country in a similar manner as refugees and thus grant them residence.78 Upon advice of the Dutch Advisory Committee for Aliens Affairs, the Dutch government announced in September 2014 that it would introduce a statelessness determination procedure, although it did not take up the suggestion to make statelessness as such a ground for residence.79 Worth mentioning, further, is that in February 2015, the Constitutional Court in Hungary declared unconstitutional that only lawfully staying persons could initiate a statelessness determination procedure, as this modifies and unduly narrows the definition of stateless person of Article 1 of the 1954 Convention.80 There is, in sum, a clear European trend towards establishing properly functioning statelessness protection regimes. It does not seem that ratification of or accession to the 1954 Convention or the establishment of statelessness determination procedures leads to a significant increase in arrivals of stateless persons or persons applying for stateless status. France, which is one of the few countries with a relatively well-functioning statelessness determination procedure and which produces reliable data, registered between 182 and 272 applicants for stateless status annually in the years 2010–2014, with a recognition rate between 15–34%.81 The stateless76 Federaal Regeerakkoord 1 December 2011, para 2.7.8. 77 Federaal Regeerakkoord 9 October 2014, p. 154. 78 Belgisch Grondwettelijk Hof 11 January 2012, no. 1/2012. Also see Hof van Beroep Brussel 17 September 2014, no. 2014/7124. 79 Letter from the Dutch Ministry of 10 September 2014 ‘Eerste reactie van het kabinet op het advies van de ACVZ inzake staatloosheid’. See also Proposed Law ‘Determination Procedure for Statelessness’ (Wetsvoorstel Rijkswet vaststelingsprocedure staatloosheid) of 28 September 2016. 80 Judgment of the Constitutional Court of Hungary No. III/01664/2014, of 23 February 2015. 81 European Migration Network Ad-Hoc Query on recognition of stateless persons, 4 May 2015. European Journal of Migration and Law 19 (2017) 101–135