design and operation’. A procedure qualifies as a statelessness determination procedure if ‘the determination of statelessness [is] a specific objective of the mechanism in question’. 22 17. Some studies have shown that states without statelessness-specific protection regimes often do not fully implement the provisions of the 1954 Convention, even if there are some mechanisms within the national systems available to stateless persons to improve their humanitarian situation.23 It is thus important for states to include statelessness determination as a specific objective of a dedicated procedure. 18. States that have explicit legal mechanisms for identifying beneficiaries of the protection under the 1954 Convention also largely ensure that those who are recognized as stateless access the minimum set of rights as required by the Convention. This does not, however, mean that all stateless persons in such States enjoy a level of protection in line with the requirements of the 1954 Convention. Gaps in the mechanisms for the identification of statelessness may lead to stateless persons not being recognized as stateless, and consequently not being able to benefit from the national protection regimes. 19. It is important to remember that statelessness determination is a declaratory and not a constitutive act. The procedure of determining that a person is stateless does not create statelessness, but merely recognizes the legal fact of statelessness, which exists regardless of whether it is recognised through a determination procedure or not. Determination procedures merely declare the legal fact of statelessness, and incorporate it into the relevant legal and bureaucratic mechanisms. Determination of statelessness is thus inevitably an imperfect process, and some persons who are stateless will not be able to be recognised as such, for example because relevant evidence may be lacking or incorrectly interpreted, or there may be various formal and informal barriers to accessing the procedure etc.24 20. UNHCR has developed guidelines on how to reduce such barriers and imperfections of statelessness determination procedures and reduce under-inclusion as much as possible. A common obstacle that is important to avoid is requiring stateless persons to already have a residence permit before applying for statelessness status. Many stateless persons are unable to legalise their residence precisely because of their statelessness, and thus requiring them to have a permission to reside creates a catch-22 situation, making the statelessness determination procedure ineffective for those who need it most. UNHCR stresses the fact that statelessness determination procedures should not be conditioned to prior permission to reside, and this principle has also been confirmed by state practice. None of the states that operate effective statelessness determination procedures require individuals to hold a residence status before accessing the procedure.25 22 See UNHCR Handbook on the Protection of Stateless Persons (Geneva 2014), and Guidelines which preceded the publication of the Handbook in particular UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 1: The definition of "Stateless Person" in Article 1(1) of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, (20 February 2012); UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 2: Procedures for Determining whether an Individual is a Stateless Person, (5 April 2012); and UNHCR, Guidelines on Statelessness No. 3: The Status of Stateless Persons at the National Level, (17 July 2012). 23 K. Bianchini, The Implementation of the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons: Procedures and Practice in Selected EU States, PhD thesis defended at the University of York, UK, in April 2015. 24 K. Bianchini, The Implementation of the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons: Procedures and Practice in Selected EU States, PhD thesis defended at the University of York, UK, in April 2015; See also K. Swider, ‘Statelessness Determination in the Netherlands’, Amsterdam Centre for European Law and Governance Working Paper Series, No. 201404, (May 2014). See also UNHCR Handbook on the Protection of Stateless Persons (Geneva 2014), para 69. 25 ENS Briefing Paper of September 2021. 8