TILBURG LAW REVIEW Journal of International and European Law Maria Jose Recalde-Vela, ‘Access to Redress for Stateless Persons Under International Law: Challenges and Opportunities’ (2019) 24(2) Tilburg Law Review pp. 182–203. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/tilr.153 RESEARCH ARTICLE Access to Redress for Stateless Persons Under International Law: Challenges and Opportunities Maria Jose Recalde-Vela* Every wrongful act gives rise to an obligation to redress the offense. In the international legal context, following the ‘traditional’ claims approach for wrongful acts, it is the state of nationality that has the duty to request redress for the violations incurred by its n ­ ­ationals through diplomatic protection. However, this ‘traditional approach’ excluded stateless ­persons, who are not considered nationals by any state. This article explores the manners in which stateless persons have been able to access mechanisms of redress for violations of their ­ rights under international law, by exploring the challenges and opportunities their situation of ­statelessness creates for them in terms of accessing justice at the international level. For this purpose, three different existing international mechanisms with the powers to issue ­measures for redress have been selected. Through exploring access to redress for stateless persons at the international level, this article also provides an overview and analysis of the selected ­mechanisms, exploring their law and practice. Keywords: Access to Redress; Statelessness; Diplomatic Protection; Inter-American Court of Human Rights; UNCC; International Criminal Court 1 Introduction The notion that wrongful acts committed by a state give rise to an obligation to redress the harm caused has a strong basis under international law, rooted in both international legal documents and jurisprudence. The 1907 Hague Convention (IV) on the Laws and Customs of War on Land, for instance, establishes under Article 3 that a ‘belligerent Party which violates the provisions of the…Regulations shall, if the case demands, be liable to pay compensation’.1 A similar provision can be found under Article 91 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions.2 Furthermore, the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), in its 1928 Factory at Chorzow case, established that under international law any harm resulted from a wrongful act creates an obligation to grant measures to redress the harm.3 International law was initially conceived as the law that regulates the interaction among states, in order to maintain the international order. Consequently, only states were traditionally deemed subjects of international law, giving rise to relationships hinged on ‘full rights and obligations’4 among states. Access to redress for individuals was consequently inextricably linked with being a state’s national. A question that arises is what happens to persons who do not hold the nationality of any state, stateless persons. * Tilburg Law School (PhD researcher, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands), M.J.Recalde-Vela@uvt.nl. The author would like to thank Mr. Oguz Kirman for his useful comments. 1 International Conferences (The Hague), Hague Convention (IV) Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land and Its Annex: Regulations Concerning the Laws and Customs of War on Land, (18 October 1907). 2 Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (8 June 1977). 3 ‘it is a principle of international law that the breach of an engagement involves an obligation to make reparation in an adequate form’ Factory at Chorzow (Claim for Indemnity) case, (Germany v Poland) (Jurisdiction) [1927] PCIJ, Series A—No 9 at 21, and Factory at Chorzow (Claim for Indemnity) case, (Germany v. Poland) ‘Merits’ [1928] PCIJ Ser. A No. 17 at 29; see also EC Gillard, ‘Reparation for violations of International Humanitarian Law’ (2003) 85(851) International Review of the Red Cross 529. However, it should be noted that this decision did not relate to violations of the laws and customs of war. 4 EC Gillard, ‘Reparation for violations of International Humanitarian Law’ (2003) 85(851) International Review of the Red Cross 529.