Rising Statelessness Due to Disappearing Island States This discussion notwithstanding, states may still attempt to enforce erga omnes (partes) norms with regard to stateless persons. 48 Erga omnes obligations are a concern of all states. As such, they allow states to bring a claim before a court in absence of a direct injury. 49 Consequently, every state would have standing in front of a court if an erga omnes obligation has been violated, even in respect of a non-national. However, the erga omnes character has only been confirmed by the ICJ in the context of the most important human rights violations such as slavery and racial discrimination, whereas human rights treaties on the universal level, such as the ICCPR and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (‘ICESCR’) ‘do not confer on states the capacity to protect the victims … irrespective of their nationality’. 50 On the international level, human rights treaty bodies may be empowered to consider complaints or communications by individuals themselves. 51 Such individual complaint mechanisms are, for example, foreseen in the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights or the Optional Protocol to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination itself. 52 In those cases, stateless persons without the nationality of any state could also petition violations of their human rights. However, in this case, enforcement of their human rights is rather unsatisfactory. 53 Although stateless persons are able to present their claims before human rights treaty bodies, their decisions (eg the decisions of the Human Rights Committee) are not legally binding and only serve as suggestions to state parties. 54 To conclude, individuals will generally have to rely on the protection of states via diplomatic protection to enjoy their human rights effectively. However, this is not a possible pathway for stateless persons. IV THE RIGHT TO NATIONALITY In Part III, the importance of having a nationality for the effective enjoyment of human rights was assessed. In an attempt to address the problem of ineffective human rights protection, many scholars have argued for an obligation of states to 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 The Latin expression erga omnes (partes) means ‘towards all ([treaty] parties)’. Subject to diplomatic protection, a state generally only suffers injury if its nationals are harmed by another state. See also Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company, Ltd (Belgium v Spain) (Judgment) [1970] ICJ Rep 3, [33]. See Part III above. ibid [33]–[34], [91]. See also Malcolm N Shaw, International Law (Cambridge University Press 2017) 92–3; ICCPR (n 41); International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, opened for signature 16 December 1966, 993 UNTS 3 (entered into force 3 January 1976) (‘ICESCR’) See generally, Dinah Shelton, ‘Human Rights, Individual Communications/Complaints’ in Rüdiger Wolfrum (ed), Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (Oxford University Press, 2012) vol 9, 1086–97. Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, opened for signature 16 December 1966, 999 UNTS 171 (entered into force 3 March 1976); Optional Protocol to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, opened for signature 6 October 1999, 2131 UNTS 83 (entered into force 22 December 2000). See eg Göcke (n 37) [20]. Belton (n 36) 237. For more details see Part V(B). 49