Case Note engaged with the phenomenon of statelessness. First of all, the Court determined the applicant to be stateless, 4 even though the Government of the Republic of Croatia (‘the Government’) disputed this fact, 5 and the relevant evidence presented to the Court was far from straightforward. 6 Secondly, the Court emphasised the role of statelessness in the applicant’s inability to enjoy his right to private life. 7 This case note begins with a brief account of the facts that led to the Hoti judgment, followed by the analysis of the Court’s reasoning. Three aspects of the judgment merit special attention: the determination of statelessness status of the applicant, the distinction between the right to a nationality and stable residence and the use of terms ‘nationality’ and ‘citizenship’ when dealing with postYugoslav cases — those are discussed in separate sub-sections of the analysis. The conclusion considers the potential of this case to influence national legal practices in the future. II FACTS OF THE CASE Mr Hoti established his residence in Croatia twelve years before Croatia declared independence and lived there for nearly forty years. 8 He was born in 1962 in the territory of Kosovo, then an autonomous province of Serbia within the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (‘SFRY’). 9 His parents were political refugees from Albania and enjoyed refugee status in the SFRY. In 1979, aged 17, the applicant moved to Croatia where he has lived ever since. 10 Before Croatia declared independence, in 1987, Mr Hoti applied for a permanent residence permit but was refused it. 11 The SFRY policy at the time was to encourage Albanian refugees to apply for a SFRY citizenship, as opposed to residence statuses as foreigners. 12 Mr Hoti, however, refused to apply for citizenship, as he did not see any benefits in acquiring that status. He remained and worked in the territory of Croatia on the basis of the documents from Kosovo. 13 On 25 June 1991, the Croatian Parliament declared Croatia independent from the SFRY, and on 8 October 1991, all ties between Croatia and the SFRY were severed. 14 During the war that followed the applicant was called up for mandatory civilian service, and was issued documentation to that end, valid until the end of 1992. 15 After the cessation of hostilities, Mr Hoti applied for Croatian citizenship on two occasions. The first time, he was given an assurance that he would be granted 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Hoti (n 1) [80]. ibid [76]. See, eg, ibid [6]–[58] for a summary of the facts of this case and the evidence presented. See also at: [113], [130], [133] and [138] for some of the complications the Court found with the evidence. ibid [117]. ibid [99]. ibid [127]. ibid. ibid [9], [11]. ibid [12]. ibid [13]. ibid [16]. ibid [17]. 185