The applicant is a deaf-mute individual who had been denied medical treatment because he was in Italy in an irregular state. He lived with his parents (both of whom claimed to be stateless persons from the former Yugoslavia) along with his 6 siblings in a refugee camp in Rome. The applicant had never obtained Italian or Yugoslavian citizenship. He therefore urgently applied to be recognised as stateless, obtain a residence permit and a travel document. The Chamber of Judges recognised his statelessness status, applying the principles set out by the Italian Supreme Court in previous decisions (and in particular in the Supreme Court decision 28873/08 dated 9 December 2008).
1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons
The applicant provided evidence demonstrating that he had been born in Italy in 1992 and has been a resident of Italy since birth. He also provided evidence that he had not registered as a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina or the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Mostar.
The father was granted statelessness status, while the mother's statelessness status was denied (on the basis of her alleged Bosnian citizenship).
For the ascertainment of statelessness status, Article 10 of the Italian Constitution requires that reference be made to international rules, in particular to Article 1 of the 1954 Statelessness Convention.
For the ascertainment of statelessness status, Article 10 of the Italian Constitution requires that reference be made to international rules, in particular to Article 1 of 1954 Statelessness Convention.
The Court of Rome recognised the statelessness status on the basis of the principles already set out by case law from Italian Supreme Court and in particular considering that:
- Statelessness status must be considered as similar to the status of a foreigner entitled to international protection (i.e., full respect for human and fundamental rights). (Supreme Court decision 28873/08);
- In order to apply Article 1 of the 1954 Statelessness Convention, and in assessing whether the person could have obtained nationality of other countries, it is necessary to consider only the legislation of the countries with which the person has a "legally relevant link" and the burden of proof in this respect is "mitigated".
In this case, the Court of Rome concluded that the applicant could not be considered a Bosnian citizen according to the applicable law, i.e., Article 5 of the Law on Citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette 13/99) because he had been residing in Italy since birth (whereas Bosnian law grants citizenship only to those born on Bosnian territory since 1995). Further, the applicant could not be considered "naturalized" because Bosnian law requires the applicant to have been in the territory of Bosnia for at least 8 years (or in exceptional cases 3 years).
In light of the above the Court of Rome recognised the statelessness status of the applicant.
The applicant is granted statelessness status with the relevant effects under Italian law.
Supreme Court decision 28873/08 dated 9 December 2008