The determination of statelessness 5.4.4 135 The procedural framework In addition to the above structural issues, a number of procedural guarantees also need to be observed.70 First, the right to a personal hearing, which provides the most adequate opportunity to collect oral evidence. Here, national practices vary: the applicant’s personal hearing is mandatory in Hungary, usual in France and optional in Spain and Italy. Second, given the evident vulnerability of stateless persons, access to state-funded legal aid (a right guaranteed in Hungary and Italy, but not in France) would be crucial in most cases. Third, access by UNHCR to proceedings, governed by its mandate to protect stateless people’s rights, would be important.71 This may include access to files and overall data, a possibility to intervene in individual cases with expert opinions and assistance in establishing facts and information from the country of origin. At the time of writing, Hungarian regulation shows an exemplary practice in this respect.72 Fourth, effective judicial review also constitutes an indispensable procedural safeguard in statelessness determination (regardless of whether the first-instance determination is administrative or judicial).73 Besides evident due process and quality considerations, practice demonstrates that judicial guidance is crucial in shaping protection mechanisms – particularly in such a ‘new’ area of protection, where only limited international experience, soft law and academic literature is available. Rules and frameworks for judicial review differ greatly, even within the small group of countries operating a statelessness-specific protection mechanism. A personal hearing is mandatory in Hungary, while Spanish and French courts usually decide sur dossier. Spanish, Hungarian and Italian judges can grant stateless status themselves, while their French colleagues can only quash lower-instance decisions. Regardless, the increasing involvement of 70 71 72 73 See also UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on Statelessness No. 2: Procedures for Determining whether an Individual is a Stateless Person’, paras. 19–21. See in particular UN General Assembly, ‘Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: Resolution adopted by the General Assembly’ A/ RES/49/169 (24 February 1995); UN General Assembly, ‘Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: resolution adopted by the General Assembly, 9’ A/ RES/50/152 (February 1996); UN General Assembly, ‘Resolution 61/137 Adopted by the UN General Assembly: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ A/RES/61/137 (25 January 2007). Act II of 2007 on the Admission and Right of Residence of Th ird-Country Nationals, s. 81. See UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on Statelessness No. 2: Procedures for Determining whether an Individual is a Stateless Person’, paras. 24–5. 9781107032446c05_p116-143.indd 135 6/16/2014 3:12:03 PM