V. ASSESSMENT V.1 Shared duty to substantiate (burden of proof) A) Summary of international standards In the case of statelessness determination, the burden of proof is in principle shared, in that both the applicant and examiner must cooperate to obtain evidence and to establish the facts. The procedure is a collaborative one aimed at clarifying whether an individual comes within the scope of the 1954 Convention. Thus, the applicant has a duty to provide as full and truthful account of his or her position as possible and to submit all evidence reasonably available. Similarly, the determination authority is required to obtain and present all relevant evidence reasonably available to it, enabling an objective determination of the applicant’s status. Given the nature of statelessness, applicants for statelessness status are often unable to substantiate the claim with much, if any, documentary evidence. Statelessness determination authorities need to take this into account, where appropriate giving sympathetic consideration to testimonial explanations regarding the absence of certain kinds of evidence.72 B) Existing good practices The regulation of the Philippines explicitly shares the burden of proof between the applicant and the determining authority and provides useful guidance in this respect: The responsibility of proving a claim to refugee or stateless status is a shared and collaborative burden between the Applicant and the Protection Officer. The Applicant has the obligation to provide accurate, full and credible account or proof in support of his/her claim, and submit all relevant evidence reasonably available. ²…³73 In implicit terms, the burden of ascertaining facts and circumstances is shared in the regulation of Moldova. This country’s regulation sets forth a number of obligations both for the applicant (fully cooperate with the authority, provide all relevant information, be present at interviews) and the determining authority, which has the primary duty to examine the claim and collect information.74 A similar approach was adopted in Spain, where the regulation remains silent about the burden of proof; however it stipulates that the authority is responsible to assess the claim, while the applicant is obliged to cooperate in this process.75 Under Hungarian law, while in principle the primary duty to substantiate the claim is on the applicant, the determining authority – upon request – shall provide 72 See UNHCR Statelessness Guidelines 2, Para 37-38 73 Department Circular No. 058 – Establishing the Refugees and Stateless Status Determination Procedure, Department of Justice, 18 October 2012, Section 9 74 Act on the Amendment and Completion of Certain Legislative Documents, adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on 28 December 2011, 10 February 2012, Sections 872 and 873 (4) 75 Royal Decree No. 865/2001 of 20 July approving the Regulation on the Recognition of the Stateless Status, 20 July 2001, Section 7 (1)-(2) 26