THEMATIC BRIEFING: October 2025 Statelessness determination and protection in Europe: good practice, challenges and risks ‘Non-citizens’ are a group which is defined in a separate law in Latvia as former Soviet citizens who were registered as living on the territory of Latvia on 1 July 1992 or their last registered place of residence before that date was Latvia, and their children, provided they have no other nationality. 26 ENS, Statelessness Determination and the Protection Status of Stateless Persons (2013) (‘Statelessness Determination’). 27 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, para. 69; ENS, ‘Statelessness Determination’. 28 European Court of Human Rights, Sudita Keita v. Hungary, application no. 42321/15, 12 May 2020; Hungarian Constitutional Court decision 6/2015. (III. 25.), 25 March 2015. See also Cabral, P. ‘Sudita Keita v. Hungary – another landmark ruling from Strasbourg on the right to private and family life of stateless people’ (2020). 29 See, e.g. Government of Georgia, Public Service Development Agency, ‘Citizenship’; Government of Latvia, Office of Citizenship and Migration Affairs, ‘Obtaining the status of a stateless person’; Government of France, OFPRA, ‘Apply for stateless person status’ (accessed 6 October 2025). 30 See, e.g. Government of Türkiye, Presidency of Migration Management, ‘Determination of Citizenship’ (in English, but the information is also available in Turkish, German, Russian, Arabic, and Persian); Government of Switzerland, State Secretariat for Migration, ‘Statelessness’; Government of the United Kingdom, ‘Apply to stay in the UK as a stateless person’; Government of Ukraine, State Migration Service, ‘Recognition as a stateless person’. 31 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, para. 68; ENS, ‘Statelessness Determination’. 32 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, paras. 83-87. 33 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, para. 84; See also Gyulai, G., ‘The determination of statelessness’, pp. 139-140. 34 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, paras. 18 and 92. 35 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, para. 96. See also Section 4 of this briefing. 36 Hungarian Supreme Court (Kúria), judgment no. Kfv.II.37.715/2021/6, 25 May 2022. 37 Spanish Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo), appeal no. 10530/2007, 20 November 2007. 38 Italian Supreme Administrative Court, judgment no. 2294, case no. 11825/2022, 2 March 2023. 39 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, para. 91. 40 See also UNHCR, Submission in the case of AS (Guinea) v. Secretary of State for the Home Department before the Court of Appeal (Civil Division), C5/2016/3473/A (2018). 41 UNHCR, Statelessness Determination in the UK (2020), pp. 26-28. 42 CEDAW, General recommendation No. 32 on the gender-related dimensions of refugee status, asylum, nationality and statelessness of women,(2014); Convention on the Rights of the Child; Convention on the Rights- of Persons with Disabilities, Article 18; UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, paras. 118-121; UNHCR, Best Interests Procedure Guidelines (2021); UN Women, Gender-responsive implementation of the Global Compact (2021); European Parliament, Resolution on LGBTIQ rights in the EU (2021); UNHCR, Roundtable on Protection and Solutions for LGBTIQ+ People in Forced Displacement (2021). 43 See further information and issues at: ENS, No child should be stateless: ensuring the right to a nationality for children in migration in Europe (2020). 44 The availability and extent of jurisprudence varies across Europe, and readers are encouraged to consult the Statelessness Case Law Database to find examples of first instance decisions and also how higher courts have clarified the interpretation of international and regional standards at national level. 45 ENS, Legal briefing on the rights of stateless Palestinians in the UK (2025); ENS, Briefing: Palestinians and the search for protection as refugees and stateless persons in Europe (2022); ENS and BADIL (the Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights), Palestinians and the Search for Protection as Refugees and Stateless Persons (2022). 46 For case examples and information on this issue, see ENS, Legal briefing on the rights of stateless Palestinians in the UK (2025); ENS & BADIL, Palestinians and the Search for Protection as Refugees and Stateless Persons (2022). 47 CJEU, SN, LN, case C-563/22, 13 June 2024. In September 2024, the French CNDA implemented the CJEU judgment, granting refugee status to Palestinians from Gaza, citing that UNRWA protection had ceased (CNDA, M. et Mme S. n°23042517 and 23042541 C+, 13 September 2024). 48 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, para. 73. 49 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, paras. 118-121; Convention on the Rights of the Child. 50 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, para. 75. 51 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’. 52 ENS, Statelessness Determination and the Protection Status of Stateless Persons (2013). 53 Civil Court of Florence, case 7397/2019, judgment no. 6558/2021 of 29 November 2021. 54 UNHCR, ‘Handbook’, para. 135. 55 Statelessness Index: https://index.statelessness.eu/. 56 1954 Convention, Article 32. UNHCR, ‘Good Practices Papers – Action 6’. 57 ENS, ‘Statelessness Determination and the Protection Status of Stateless Persons’. 58 Council of Europe Committee of Ministers, Recommendation No. R (99) 18 of the Committee of Ministers to member States on the avoidance and reduction of statelessness (1999). 25 33