Legal briefing: Statelessness and the right to respect for private and family life October 2024 (i) be in accordance with a law which has the requisite “quality of law”,20(ii) pursue an identified legitimate aim as outlined in Article 8(2), and (iii) be necessary in a democratic society and proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued.21 Article 8(2) also places a positive obligation on Contracting States to ensure the effective enjoyment of the right to respect for private and family life and protection from arbitrary acts or omissions by public authorities, which may include the adoption of specific measures and due diligence to secure this right.22 While the right to a nationality is not explicitly guaranteed by the ECHR or its protocols, Article 1 ECHR provides that State parties must secure the Convention’s rights and freedom to everyone within their jurisdiction, and the ECtHR has confirmed that interferences with a person’s nationality may engage Article 8 ECHR due to the important impact it has on the private life of an individual. For example, ECtHR jurisprudence makes it clear that private life within Article 8 ECHR extends broadly to the protection of, inter alia, a person’s right to personal autonomy23 and self-determination;24 the right to establish and develop relationships with others,25 and the right to establish other aspects of an individual’s social identity.26 The ECtHR has also held that nationality is an important element of personal identity.27 Similarly, the ECtHR has also found that the right to respect for private life includes an individual’s right to have one’s birth registered, given its impact on a person’s daily life and in an individual’s “ right to a recognised identity under Article 8” and sense of personal autonomy. The right to a recognised identity also includes, where relevant, access to other identity documents.28 Statelessness and interferences with an individual’s nationality have therefore been recognised to fall within the scope of Article 8, which implies that States have an obligation under the ECHR to protect the rights of stateless persons and prevent statelessness. As is elaborated on in Section 2 of this briefing, this includes providing effective and accessible procedures for enabling persons to have their statelessness or nationality status determined;29 ensuring that stateless individuals have a genuine 20 This requirement includes that the relevant law must be accessible and foreseeable. See ECtHR, The Sunday Times v. the United Kingdom (No. 1) (application no. 6538/74), 26 April 1979, paragraph 49. 21 States are often granted a certain margin of appreciation in fulfilling ECHR obligations. This margin grants the ECtHR the ability to adjust the rigor of its examination regarding States’ adherence to both the negative and positive obligations derived from the ECHR. See for instance, ECtHR, Handyside v. the United Kingdom (application no. 5493/72), 7 December 1976, paragraphs 48-50. 22 ECtHR, Hoti v. Croatia (application no. 63311/14), 26 July 2018, paragraph 118; ECtHR, Kurić and others v. Slovenia (application no. 26828/06), 26 May 2012, paragraph 358. 23 ECtHR, Pretty v. the United Kingdom (application no. 2346/02), 29 April 2002, paragraphs 66, 82; ECtHR, Nada v. Switzerland (application no. 10593/08), 12 September 2012, paragraph 151. 24 ECtHR, Pretty v. the United Kingdom (application no. 2346/02), 29 April 2002, paragraph 61; ECtHR, Usmanov v. Russia (application no. 43936/18), 22 December 2020, paragraph 52. 25 ECtHR, Pretty v. the United Kingdom (application no. 2346/02), 29 April 2002, paragraph 61. 26 ECtHR, Hoti v. Croatia (application no. 63311/14), 26 July 2018, paragraph 119. 27 ECtHR, Genovese v. Malta (application no. 53124/09), 11 October 2011, paragraph 30; ECtHR Karassev v. Finland (application no. 31414/96), 12 January 1999; Ramadan v. Malta (application no. 76136/12), 21 June 2016, paragraph 85; ECtHR, Ghoumid and others v. France (applications nos. 52273/16, 52285/16, 52290/16, 52294/16 and 52302/16), 25 June 2020; ECtHR, K2 v. the United Kingdom (application no. 42387/13), 7 February 2017. 28 29 ECtHR, G.T.B. v. Spain (application no. 3041/19), 16 November 2023, paragraphs 118, 122. ECtHR, Hoti v. Croatia (application no. 63311/14), 26 July 2018. See section 2.1. of this briefing. 7