22. In order to determine statelessness in full accordance with the 1954 Convention, a statelessness determination procedure should be accessible to everyone within the Swiss territory, and it should be fair and efficient.56 The procedure should be formalised in law and observe due process guarantees.57 The procedure under the APA is mainly written. Oral hearings or court proceedings are only approved in exceptional circumstances. People who submit an application for recognition of statelessness in Switzerland often have a migration background, face language barriers, difficulties evidencing their statelessness, and are unfamiliar with the country’s legal system, so a written procedure puts them at a disadvantage. Switzerland should follow good practice and UNHCR guidance and ensure that the procedure can be initiated either orally or in writing, that provisions for ex officio initiation of the procedure are applied in practice, and that the individual circumstances of all applicants are carefully considered in line with UNHCR guidance.58 23. Currently, the statelessness determination procedure does not include access to adequate legal aid and provision of interpreting and translation services. Legal aid is rarely granted during the application process, even though applicants have a right to legal aid at all stages of the procedure if they meet certain requirements.59 Translation and interpreting services are not provided, despite being difficult to arrange and costly for the applicant. In the absence of procedural guarantees and safeguards set out in law, this lack of support for applicants is particularly problematic in what is a very complex procedure. 24. Information and counselling about the procedure should be widely disseminated in order to facilitate access to the procedure. 60 Additional procedural and evidentiary safeguards for child applicants should be put in place, including ‘priority processing of their claims, provision of appropriately trained legal representatives, interviewers and interpreters as well as the assumption of a greater share of the burden of proof by the State.’61 Government officials who may come in contact with stateless persons through their regular work (for example, social services or immigration control) should be trained to identify potential applicants and should refer them to the determination procedure.62 Finally, authorities involved in the identification of stateless persons should be provided with training on statelessness and the rights of stateless persons. 25. According to Article 31(1) of the Federal Act on Foreign Nationals (FNA) persons recognised as stateless in Switzerland have the right to be granted a residence permit in the canton in which they are legally residing. So far, courts have not decided whether this requirement to reside legally in a canton entails a ´lawful stay´ requirement based on which persons recognised as stateless could be refused residence status if they had no prior right to stay. However, legal doctrine and practice have interpreted Article 31(1) 56 UNHCR, ‘Handbook on protection of stateless persons', (2014), note 12, para. 63, para. 68 and para. 69, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html. 57 Ibid. note 12, para. 71. 58 Ibid. note 12, para. 71, para. 87, para. 94 and para. 101. 59 Federal Administrative Court in case E-5581/2013 of 28 November 2013. 60 UNHCR, ‘Handbook on protection of stateless persons', (2014), note 12, para. 68, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html; UNHCR, ‘Global Action Plan to End Statelessness’, (November 2014), available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/545b47d64.html; UNHCR, ‘Good Practices Paper – Action 6: Establishing Statelessness Determination Procedures to Protect stateless Persons’, (July 2016), p. 5, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/57836cff4.html. 61 UNHCR, ‘Handbook on protection of stateless persons', (2014), note 12, para. 119, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/53b676aa4.html. 62 UNHCR, ‘Good Practices Paper – Action 6: Establishing Statelessness Determination Procedures to Protect stateless Persons’, (July 2016), p. 4, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/57836cff4.html. 8