3.4 Rights of applicants and recognized stateless persons 3.4.1 Right to liberty It is of particular importance to stateless persons, whose residence in their respective countries may often be deemed undocumented or irregular, that legal safeguards pertaining to the right of liberty provide protection from arbitrary detention. Although there is no unified definition of arbitrary detention in international law, extensive case law91 provides helpful guidance, referring to general principles that should be observed when depriving an individual of their liberty: nn Detention must always serve a legitimate purpose and must be prescribed by law; nn Detention is a measure of last resort, permissible only when other, less intrusive measures would not satisfy the desired purpose; nn The primary requisite of fairness in the process of applying detention calls for addressing the specific circumstances of the individual. Any automatic decision-making process in this regard would render detention arbitrary and unlawful;92 nn UNHCR’s Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons points out that statelessness, by its very nature, severely restricts access to basic identity and travel documents that those with a nationality normally possess. Moreover, stateless persons are often without legal residence in any country. Thus, being undocumented or lacking the necessary immigration permits cannot be used as a general justification for detention of such persons.93 Under the current Polish legal framework statelessness is usually tantamount to irregular status. As stateless persons in Poland typically have arrived from third countries or, in some cases, from a second generation of migrant families, the lack of valid identification documentation coupled with expiration of their original residence titles effectively prevents them from regularizing their stay through the standard legal pathways. These ramifications expose stateless persons to a risk of detention in Poland. It is often the prospect of detention that appears to be the main factor deterring stateless persons with an irregular status from disclosing themselves and approaching state authorities to initiate legal proceedings with a view to regularizing their status. The lack of a tailored statelessness determination procedure and absence of a dedicated legal pathway discourages such persons from undertaking any official actions regarding their status, thus forcing them into a precarious state of legal limbo. 91 Examples of case law available at: https://www.easo.europa.eu/sites/default/files/Detention-JA-EN-PDF.pdf 92 UNHCR, Guidelines on the Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum-Seekers and Alternatives to Detention (Detention Guidelines), 2012, Guideline 4, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/503489533b8.html 93 UNHCR, Handbook on Protection of Stateless Persons, cited above, para. 112. UNHCR POLAND, SEPTEMBER 2019 33