Germany’s Federal High Court ruled in July 2014 that detention of an asylum seeker pending a transfer to another EU country under the Dublin III Regulation violates German law.691 6. Protection under the Statelessness Conventions Germany is a party to both the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.692 According to the 2005 edition of this Handbook,693 even though Germany does not have a specific procedure for determining whether statelessness exists it does have a procedure by which a person can apply for a 1954 Convention Travel Document, thereby requiring relevant authorities to examine the question of whether a person is stateless. This matter may also arise when an applicant requests a residence permit. Cases of Palestinian asylum seekers who could not establish entitlement to the benefits of the 1951 Refugee Convention are assessed under the 1954 Stateless Persons Convention.694 Germany’s Federal Administrative Court has concluded that Palestinians who have not acquired the nationality of a third state are stateless in the sense of Article 1, first paragraph, of the 1954 Stateless Persons Convention. However, the individual entitlement to the benefits of the 1954 Stateless Persons Convention is conditioned upon fulfilment of the same restrictive criteria of Article 1D, i.e., UNRWA assistance or protection must have “ceased” without the stateless person having “voluntarily relinquished” such assistance or protection.695 The non-compliance with those criteria leads to the exclusion, of the stateless Palestinian concerned, from the scope of the 1954 Stateless Persons Convention.696 Nevertheless, it should be noted that Germany understands that the 1954 Convention is only applicable to those who left URNWA’s area of operation – and, thus, no longer enjoy its protection or assistance – due to a well-founded fear of persecution­ in their country of habitual residence.697 691 142 Asylum Information Database, “Germany: Federal High Court Declares Unlawful Any Detention under Dublin III Regulation,” July 29, 2014, http://www.asylumineurope.org/news/17-10-2014/ germany-federal-high-court-declares-unlawful-any-detention-under-dublin-iii. 692 UNTC, “Status of Treaties: Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons;” UNTC, “Status of Treaties: Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness.” 693 BADIL, Closing Protection Gaps: A Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees in States Signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, 184–185. 694 Ibid., 184. 695 UN General Assembly, Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, Article 1(2). 696 BADIL, Closing Protection Gaps: A Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees in States Signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, 185. 697 See Verwaltungsgericht (Administrative Court), “A Gegen BMI, Betreffend Feststellung Der Flüchtlingseigenschaft [Against BMI, Concerning Determination of Refugee Status],” January 29, 1986, Zl 84/01/0106, http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b7000.html; and Bundesverwaltungsgericht (Federal Administrative Court), “Urteil Vom 21.1.1992 (Decision of 21/01/1992),” January 21, 1992, BVerwG 1 C 21.87, http://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6b72f20.html, Item (dd)(3). Handbook on Protection of Palestinian Refugees