Court name: Federal Administrative Court of Switzerland
Date of decision:

The complainant, a Syrian Kurd with provisional refugee status in Switzerland, applied for recognition as stateless. Her application was rejected on the grounds that a) she was entitled to Syrian nationality and b) she was already protected by the Refugee Convention. On appeal, the court held that the complainant was entitled to apply for recognition as stateless notwithstanding her status as a refugee and that, since the complainant would have to travel to Syria to claim nationality there, she had adequate reasons for not claiming the nationality to which she had an entitlement and could be recognised as stateless. 

Court name: Constitutional Court of Austria (Verfassungsgerichtshof)
State: Austria
Date of decision:

After having been born, having lived, worked and and paid taxes in Austria his whole life the applicant was told he is not entitled to unemployment benefits as he did not have a right to work in Austria. While he was granted Austrian nationality upon application, he argued that he was entitled to unemployment benefits also in the time frame between becoming unemployed and acquiring the nationality, invoking his statelessness, and lack of implementation of Statelessness Conventions by Austria. The Court denies direct applicability of the Statelessness Conventions in Austria, and rules against the applicant. 

Court name: Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw
State: Poland
Date of decision:

R.G. unsuccessfully applied for refugee status in 2007. In 2013 he submitted a new application claiming that he had become a stateless person after country F had refused to confirm his citizenship, and that therefore new factual circumstance had arisen that justified submitting another application.

The Court pointed out that the refusal of one country to confirm his citizenship does not automatically mean that no country will confirm his citizenship and that the question of whether he is a stateless person is irrelevant when assessing the conditions for granting refugee status or other forms of international protection.