Litigation Toolkit on Statelessness: Volume I October 2022 The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) also establishes rights that are important in preventing statelessness and protecting the rights of stateless persons. In particular, Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment) and Article 8 (right to respect for family and private life) can be vital tools in protecting the rights of some stateless persons. In the context of European Union (EU) law, it is also relevant to take into consideration the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (Charter) and EU law in the field of asylum and migration, including specific instruments on this issue. Further information on statelessness under the ECHR and in EU law is available in the section on ‘Courts and mechanisms for impact litigation’. Updated information on which countries have acceded to each of the above mentioned instruments is available on the website of the United Nations Treaty Collection and the Council of Europe Treaty Office. According to the instruments to which they have acceded, European countries have obligations under international law to protect stateless persons and to prevent statelessness. However, many States lack legal frameworks to respond to statelessness together with the challenges associated with it, or have put in place adequate laws and policies but fail in their implementation in practice. The lack of effective legal frameworks leaves stateless persons in a state of legal limbo without an effective legal mechanism to resolve their situation and acquire nationality which would secure access to fundamental rights. One step to address this challenge is for States to improve procedures to identify who is stateless or at risk of statelessness, determine their statelessness and ensure access to rights. Most members of the Council of Europe do not have dedicated statelessness procedures in place and less than half of European countries have full safeguards in their nationality laws to prevent childhood statelessness. For more information on how some European States address statelessness, visit the Statelessness Index. Another way of effecting change is through impact litigation, drawing on legal mechanisms that exist at national, European and/or international level to protect the rights of stateless persons. 6