Access to redress for stateless persons under international law: Challenges and opportunities

Every wrongful act gives rise to an obligation to redress the offense. In the international legal context, following the ‘traditional’ claims approach for wrongful acts, it is the state of nationality that has the duty to request redress for the violations incurred by its nationals through diplomatic protection. However, this ‘traditional approach’ excluded stateless persons, who are not considered nationals by any state. This article explores the manners in which stateless persons have been able to access mechanisms of redress for violations of their rights under international law, by exploring the challenges and opportunities their situation of statelessness creates for them in terms of accessing justice at the international level. For this purpose, three different existing international mechanisms with the powers to issue measures for redress have been selected. Through exploring access to redress for stateless persons at the international level, this article also provides an overview and analysis of the selected mechanisms, exploring their law and practice.