SUDITA KEITA v. HUNGARY JUDGMENT Article 32 – Naturalization “The Contracting States shall as far as possible facilitate the assimilation and naturalization of stateless persons. They shall in particular make every effort to expedite naturalization proceedings and to reduce as far as possible the charges and costs of such proceedings.” THE LAW I. ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 8 OF THE CONVENTION 24. Relying on Articles 3, 5, 8, 13 and 14 of the Convention, the applicant alleged that from 2002 to 2017 the Hungarian authorities had refused to regularise his situation satisfactorily, which had gravely prejudiced his human dignity. The Court, being the master of the characterisation to be given in law to the facts of a case (see Radomilja and Others v. Croatia [GC], nos. 37685/10 and 22768/12, §§ 114 and 126, 20 March 2018), considers that this complaint falls to be examined under Article 8 of the Convention alone, which, in so far as relevant, reads as follows: “1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life ... 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.” A. Admissibility 25. The Court notes that the application is neither manifestly ill-founded nor inadmissible on any other ground listed in Article 35 of the Convention. It must therefore be declared admissible. B. Merits 1. The parties’ submissions (a) The applicant 26. The applicant submitted that the authorities’ fifteen-year-long reluctance to recognise him as stateless or otherwise regularise his situation had been unacceptable, discriminatory and irreconcilable with human dignity. 27. In particular, he argued that, during that period, he had not been able to access healthcare properly, he had been deprived of any means of providing for himself autonomously, and he had not been able to marry his girlfriend. He had been stateless from the outset, yet the Hungarian rules, 5