France - Versailles Administrative Court of Appeal, case no. 10VE04202

The applicant was born in the USSR, on the territory of contemporary Ukraine. He was denied stateless status in France on the basis that he did not make any efforts to get recognised as a national by either Ukraine or Russia. The Court upheld OFPRA's decision, ruling moreover that since the statelessness determination procedure is not aimed at granting residence rights, the applicant cannot rely on potential violations of articles 3 and 8 ECHR in case he is forced to return to Ukraine. 

Case name (in original language)
Cour Administrative d'Appel de Versailles, 5ème chambre, 19/01/2012, 10VE04202
Case number
10VE04202
Date of decision
State
Court / UN Treaty Body
Versailles Administrative Court of Appeal
Language(s) the decision is available in
French
Applicant's country of birth
Ukraine
Applicant's country of residence
France
Relevant Legislative Provisions

Article 1 of the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons

Articles 3 and 8 ECHR

Facts

The applicant was born in 1967 in Vassilkov (former USSR, Ukraine), and entered France on August 31, 1998, after having attempted to obtain refugee status in the Netherlands. He applied for a statelessness status in France, which was rejected on the 21st of June 2004. 

Decision & Reasoning

The Court rejects the procedural claims of the applicant without extensive explanation.

As to the statelessness status and the infringement of the ECHR, the Court reasons as follows:

"The applicant does not provide any evidence that he would not have been able to be recognised as a national by any of the successor states of the Soviet Union. By not pursuing the possibilities with either Russia or Ukraine to be recognised as a national, the applicant placed himself in a situation of being a former national of a state that has disappeared in 1991."

"Considering that the decision which grants or refuses to grant the status of a stateless person does not in itself aim or results in conferring or withdrawing the right to stay in France, the applicant's claim that if he is returned to Ukraine he would suffer treatment prohibited by Article 3 of the ECHR is inoperative and can only be set aside. Similarly, the applicant cannot effectively rely on the claim that the contested decision would have infringed on his right to family life so as to violate Article 8 of the ECHR."

Outcome

The Court upheld OFPRA's decision to refuse the statelessness status.