Spain - Supreme Court, decision no. 8948/2007 (appeal no. 10530/2007)

Court name: Tribunal Supremo (Supreme Court)
State: Spain
Date of decision:
Legal instruments: 1954 Statelessness Convention, 1961 Statelessness Convention
Key aspects: Acquisition of nationality, Burden of proof, Standard of proof, State succession, Statelessness determination

Saharawi people who live in Algerian refugee camps do not have a nationality, therefore they are stateless and must be officially recognized as such.

Spain - Supreme Court, decision 1330/2014 (appeal no. 4734/2011)

Court name: Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo)
State: Spain
Date of decision:
Key aspects: Burden of proof, Standard of proof, Acquisition of nationality, State succession, Statelessness determination

The applicant is a Saharawi man who was born in the former Spanish Sahara and who, in 1979, fled to the Saharawi refugee camps in Tindouf (Algeria), where he lived until 2005, when he arrived in Spain after being issued a passport by the Algerian authorities. In Spain, he applied for statelessness status. The Ministry of Interior rejected his application based on his Algerian passport, but this decision was overturned, on appeal, by the High Court, which found that Algerian passports are just travel documents.  

Spain - Supreme Court, decision no. 8948/2007 (appeal no. 10530/2007)

Court name: Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo)
State: Spain
Date of decision:
Legal instruments: 1954 Statelessness Convention, 1961 Statelessness Convention
Key aspects: Acquisition of nationality, Burden of proof, Standard of proof, State succession, Statelessness determination

The case concerns a Saharawi woman who was not recognised as a stateless person by the Ministry of Interior, in a decision which was later upheld by the High Court. The Supreme Court overturned both the lower decisions.