SEEKING NATIONALITY THE JUDICIAL ODYSSEY OF APPLICANTS Access to Justice: A Fundamental Human Rights Principle Access to Justice is a fundamental human rights principle and standards. This principle is enshrined in the core international human rights. Article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states that: “Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted to him/her by the constitution or by law”; and Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) stipulates: ““Each State Party to “(a) ensure that any person whose rights or freedoms as herein recognized are violated shall have an effective remedy, notwithstanding that the violation has been committed by persons acting in an official capacity; (b) ensure that any person claiming such a remedy shall have his right thereto determined by competent judicial, administrative or legislative authorities, or by any other competent authority provided for by the legal system of the State, and to develop the possibilities of judicial remedy; (c) ensure that the competent authorities shall enforce such remedies when granted.” The principle of access to justice is not simply limited to access to courts and legal representation, it entails access to legal awareness and knowledge, access to protection, legal aid, advice and counseling, judgement, enforcement, and civil society monitoring.52 Thus, Access to justice must be ensured if a society were to be truly based on the rule of law. Lebanon is bound by these treaties and principles. In reality, many of what this principle entails are not ensured today. The Lebanese justice system is heavily politicized and there are serious allegations of chronic corruption inside it. In addition, the system lacks many of the basic and necessary features such as adequate dissemination of legal information, a systematic and comprehensive legal aid system; free legal advice and pro-bono legal representation. Added to this is the prohibitive costs of using the system and the complex procedures and long delays of the proceedings. All this hinders average citizen from accessing justice and increase the lack of confidence in the system and limit access to justice that makes this right futile. In the case of stateless persons, these problems impede the possibility of such individuals to end their legal status, whether through birth registration or nationality law suits. However, stateless persons resorting to courts to end their statelessness face a number of obstacles. These extend from poor application and interpretation of laws that help prove their right to obtain a nationality; insufficient information related to laws and procedures; wrong advice provided from non-specialized actors, the unaffordable cost, and the long delays in the court proceedings and at the execution stage SEEKING NATIONALITY | PART 3 FRONTIERS RIGHTS Poor Application of Laws Single Judges Malpractices in Birth Registration lawsuits Despite the non-contentious nature of registration of civil status events, many Single Judges decide to apply to adjoin the Lebanese State to be an adverse party in such lawsuit, particularly when the case involves an adult child. Yet, ironically, the state’s lawyers rarely attend the courts proceedings and do not present their arguments. This “unlawful” practice is justified by the legal professionals is to pre-empt the appealing after the judgement is issued.53 58