Germany’s Regional and International Obligations
6. Germany is party to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons,5 the 1961
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, and the International Commission on Civil Status’ 1973
Convention for the Reduction of Cases of Statelessness.6
7. Germany is also a party to core human rights treaties that include provisions related to statelessness
and/or nationality, such as the International Covenant on Civil on Political Rights (ICCPR),7 the Convention
on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD), the Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW),8 the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)9 and
the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). In addition to guarantees of the right
to nationality, both the ICCPR and CRC contain provisions that oblige Germany to ensure the timely birth
registration of every child immediately after birth.
8. Germany’s regional treaty obligations include the European Convention on Human Rights,10 the
European Convention on Nationality,11 and the Council of Europe Convention on the avoidance of
statelessness in relation to State succession.12
Statelessness in Germany
9. The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons defines a stateless person as someone
“who is not considered as a national by any state under the operation of its law”.13 The definition of a
stateless person in German law aligns with the 1954 Convention.14 However, there is no dedicated
Statelessness Determination Procedure in Germany to identify and protect stateless persons. Although
there are a number of administrative procedures15 relevant to stateless persons, these currently do not
offer all the rights and protection stipulated by the 1954 Convention.16
10. There is no clear or binding guidance on how to determine statelessness on individual basis. In each
federal state (Land), the aliens’ authority follows its own rules that seem to be based upon the General
Administrative Regulations for the Nationality Act. The General Administrative Regulations for the
Nationality Act briefly mentions stateless people in relation to the acquisition of nationality, prevention
of statelessness, vulnerable groups and the renunciation of German nationality. Further, the General
Administrative Regulation for the Residence Act provides some (vague) procedural instructions on in
relation to the collection of evidence and the obligation to participate in the procurement of
documents.17
5
Gesetz zu dem Übereinkommen vom 28. September 1954 über die Rechtsstellung der Staatenlosen, BGBl 1976 II, 473.
Ausführungsgesetz zu dem Übereinkommen vom 30. August 1961 zur Verminderung der Staatenlosigkeit und zu dem
Übereinkommen vom 13. September 1973 zur Verringerung der Fälle von Staatenlosigkeit (Gesetz zur Verminderung der
Staatenlosigkeit), I BGBl 1977, 1101.
7 BGBl II 1973, 1534.
8 BGBl II 1985, 647.
9 BGBl II 1992, 122.
10 BGBl II 1952, 685.
11 BGBl II 2006, 1353.
12 BGBl II 2004, 578.
13 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (adopted 28 September 1954, entered into force 6 June 1960) 360 UNTS
117, art 1.
14 §1 Gesetz zu dem Übereinkommen vom 28. September 1954 über die Rechtsstellung der Staatenlosen, BGBl II 1976, 473.
15 BGBl I 2008, 162; BGBl I 2017, 2780; BGBl I 2004, 2945; BGBl I 2017, 3066; GMBl 2009, 878; Holger Hoffmann, ‘Staatenlosigkeit –
Rechte und rechtliche Folgen‘ (2017) 9 Asylmagazin 327-329.
16 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, 2014. Available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html
17 3 on §3a
4.4.1; 8.1.3.1; 18 Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift zum Staatsangehörigkeits-recht (StAR-VwV)
vom 13. Dezember 2000 [General Administrative Regulation for the Nationality Act]. See eg 25.5.4
Allgemeine Verwaltungsvorschrift zum Aufenthaltsgesetz (AufenthG-VwV) vom 26.10.2009 (GMBl 2009, 878)
[General Administrative Regulation for the Residence Act]
6
2