Court112. The issue was further considered by the Supreme Administrative Court which decided that the nationality of the children should be confirmed113. 4.3.2 Avoidance of statelessness in the context of deprivation and loss of nationality Polish law does not allow for the deprivation of Polish nationality.114 There are certain situations, however, which can result in a loss of nationality, leading to a risk of statelessness. Article 34(2) of the Polish Constitution states that the only way of losing Polish nationality is by an act of renunciation. The procedure of renunciation is described in the Act on Polish Citizenship. According to this Act, a person willing to renounce Polish nationality must submit an appropriate declaration which takes effect only after the President of the Republic of Poland gives his consent to this renunciation. The relevant provisions do not include an explicit guarantee that would prohibit nationality loss in case it would result in statelessness. However, such a guarantee can be interpreted from the requirement of submitting a document proving possession of another nationality or a promise of such nationality together with the application to the President. If the person willing to renounce Polish nationality cannot provide such documents, his or her motion will not be processed. Interestingly, however, there is no explicit requirement to include such documentation in relation to children included in the application. Therefore, there may be cases where the parent renounces Polish nationality to acquire a nationality of another state and his or her children’s Polish nationality is lost but the new state does not grant its nationality to those children. Furthermore, a promise of nationality is not a guarantee that one will not end up stateless. Polish law, therefore, does not fully comply with Article 6 of the 1961 Convention according to which, in case the loss of nationality of a parent results in the loss of nationality of the child, such loss should be conditional upon the child’s possession or acquisition of another nationality. The Act on Polish Citizenship should, thus, be amended to include a specific guarantee regarding children in the renunciation procedure. There are also other ways in which Polish nationality can be lost. In the case of foreigners who were recognized as Polish nationals by a decision of a Voivod, such a decision can be invalidated if, for example, fraud was committed at the time of the application. The general rules of administrative procedure apply (for example, Article 156(1)(2) of the Code of Administrative Procedure, which stipulates that a decision can be invalidated if it was issued without the legal basis and in flagrant violation of the law) and there is no special guarantee against statelessness. These provisions are in compliance with the 1961 Convention according to which a Contracting State may deprive a person of its nationality, even if such deprivation would render him or her stateless, if the nationality has been obtained by misrepresentation or fraud.115 There have been cases in which decisions confirming Polish nationality were invalidated on the basis of Article 156(1)(2) of the Code of Administrative Procedure. The decision confirming Polish nationality is a declaratory act and its invalidation has serious practical consequences for a person. It also puts a person at risk of statelessness because there is no special guarantee in the Code of Administrative Procedure against statelessness. 44 112 Case files no. IV SA/Wa 3680/15; IV SA/Wa 3681/15; IV SA/Wa 3682/15; IV SA/Wa 3683/15. 113 Case files no. II OSK 1868/16, II OSK 1869/16, II OSK 1870/16, II OSK 1871/16 114 See Art. 34(2) of the Polish Constitution and Art. 46 of the Law on Citizenship. 115 Art. 8(2)(b) of the 1961 Convention. MAPPING STATELESSNESS IN POLAND