. Identification
re ention and reduction o state essness
statelessness determination. UNHCR and the OSCE can assist States in
these endeavours. In addition, it is important to raise awareness about and
publicize the existence of statelessness determination procedures to enhance stateless persons’ access to them.
Procedural guarantees
Statelessness determination procedures should be formalized by law so as
to ensure fairness and transparency. They must include basic procedural
guarantees.66 Some of the most fundamental guarantees reflected in current State practice include:
— access to an interview;
— interpretation assistance;
— legal aid;
— respect for the specific protection needs of women, children, and
people with disabilities;
— making and communicating decisions in a reasonable time following
the submission of a statelessness status application;
— communicating decisions in writing with an explanation of the
grounds on which they were made; and
— the right to appeal against a first-instance rejection of an application
on the basis of fact or law.
In addition, State practice also reflects the right to liberty and freedom
of movement by not detaining those seeking recognition of their stateless
status.67
Only a small number of countries68 have established statelessness determination procedures or proper registration systems but there is growing interest in introducing such mechanisms. At UNHCR’s 2011 Ministerial Meeting to commemorate the 60th and 50th anniversaries of the 1951
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1961 Convention
on the Reduction of Statelessness, 10 States pledged to establish statelessness determination procedures.69 These were Australia, Belgium, Brazil,
Costa Rica, Georgia, Moldova, Peru, the Philippines, Uruguay, and the
United States of America, while Hungary pledged to improve its existing
48