The Supreme Court confirms the decision of the National High Court which set aside a judgment of the Ministry of Justice denying an application to obtain Spanish nationality by a stateless person, on the basis that such denial was arbitrary.
Spanish Civil Code
The applicant is of Palestinian origin, with no recognised nationality. The applicant’s family moved to Jordan because of the Arab-Israeli war that ended in 1970. Subsequently, when Palestinians and Jordanians came into conflict, the applicant’s family left Jordan and moved to Kuwait until 1979. The applicant then moved to Spain where he was able to renew his Jordanian passport until 1988 when the Embassy of Jordan in Spain denied the application for passport renewal without giving reasons. As a consequence, the applicant submitted annually the registration form for stateless aliens and later applied for Spanish nationality which was denied.
The applicant challenged the administrative act of the Ministry of Justice that rejected the application for Spanish nationality, as it was brief and gave no reasoning. The Supreme Court recognised that no grounds were provided for the denial, and that the applicant is entitled to Spanish nationality.
The applicant argued that (Legal Reasoning no. 1):
- He is integrated into Spanish society, has formed a family with a Spanish woman, but even so doesn’t hold the documents that would at least allow him the same freedom of movement as other Spanish citizens.
- The Police have produced no documents showing the existence of relationships and/or activities that would threaten the national security of Spain. The police report merely stated that “this foreigner could carry out activities that seriously jeopardize Spain's international relations and could affect national security”. No evidence was attached.
The State Attorney’s arguments for rejecting the application are summarised in the decision’s Legal reasoning no. 3:
- The State may refuse the application for nationality on the grounds of public order or national interest. In the case at hand, there are reasons of national security that would justify denial of the application.
- Leakage of confidential matters is contrary to the safeguarding of national security. Thus, no further reasoning need be given.
The Supreme Court found that Spain may deny an application for nationality on grounds of public order or national interest. However, in the case at hand, the Ministry of Justice has neither addressed nor explained the reasons for the denial, withholding such reasons.
The absence of reasoning cannot be such that it violates the right to effective judicial protection.
The Ministry of Justice designated the reasoning as secret. Although there may be reasons that cannot be disclosed in some applications, those reasons are subject to oversight by the courts and cannot mean that the applicant is deprived of detailed reasoning. The ruling has to explain, in a reasoned and reasonable manner, the grounds for rejection. In the case at hand that has not been done, which constitutes a breach of the right to effective judicial protection.
The Supreme Court found a violation of public order and confirmed the decision of the lower court, which previously set aside the unreasoned denial of the application for nationality and granted Spanish nationality to the stateless applicant.