Tag: Montevideo Convention

Supreme Court, K.E. and G.E. v Prosecutor

On By In Supreme Court
Supreme Court, K.E. and G.E. v Prosecutor, Nr. C.21.0095.F, 19 November 2021

The Belgian Supreme Court examines a judgement concerning the existence of Palestine as a State. The Court recalls that the 1933 Montevideo Convention is to be considered as codified customary international law and therefore applicable in the Belgian legal system. The first article of the Convention prescribes four criteria which States should fulfil in order to exist, regardless of any recognition by third States. Consequently, Belgian courts have the authority to apply and interpret this article without this interpretation becoming neither a general and legal rule nor any kind of recognition by the Belgian State. Hence, the Court adjudges that the understanding of article 1 applied to the State of Palestine in the underlying judgement was legally constituted and therefore dismisses the appeal in cassation as unfounded.

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A.N.H. {Ex parte}

On By In Supreme Court
Supreme Court, A.N.H., Nr. C.18.0400.N, 18 February 2019

The Court holds that a ‘State’ can be said to exist when the criteria laid down in the 1933 Montevideo Convention are fulfilled, and that the creation of a State is, in principle, not contingent on its recognition by other States. In light hereof, the Ghent Court of Appeal did not err in regarding the claimant as a Palestinian national, rather than a Stateless person. In particular, the Supreme Court rejects the claimant’s argument that Palestine could not be qualified as a State due to a lack of recognition by the international community.

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Prosecutor v X

On By In Court of Appeal
Brussels Court of Appeal, X v Prosecutor, Nr. 2017/FA/707, 5 June 2018

The Brussels Court of Appeal states that according to article 1.1° of the 1954 Statelessness Convention, a person who is not considered a national by any State constitutes a stateless person. In assessing the statehood of Palestine, the Court takes into account the four criteria established in the 1933 Montevideo Convention and holds that, in accordance with the declaratory theory, the political existence of a State is not contingent on its recognition by other States. The Court determines that, based on these elements, Palestine must be considered as a ‘State’ hic et nunc.

According to the Court, the alleged absence of a Palestinian nationality legislation does not imply that the defendant ought to be regarded as a stateless person. Instead, what matters is that the State of Palestine considers the defendant as a Palestinian citizen by virtue of applicable national law. In particular, the defendant’s UNRWA Registration Card indicates Palestinian descent, whereas individuals of Palestinian origin and their descendents who sought refuge in Lebanon following the establishment of the State of Israel are recognized as nationals by the Palestinian National Authorities. It follows that the defendant is not a stateless person in the sense of the 1954 Convention.

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Prosecutor v X

On By In Supreme Court
Supreme Court, Prosecutor v X, Nr. C.16.0325.N, 23 January 2017

The Belgian Supreme Court examines a judgement of the Ghent Court of Appeal which previously held that Palestine cannot at present be regarded as a ‘State’, implying that persons of Palestinian origin may be eligible for protection as stateless persons. By holding, on the one hand, that the statehood of Palestine must be assessed by reference to the criteria of the 1933 Montevideo Convention, while finding, on the other hand, that recognition by third States is decisive, the judgement contains a contradictory statement of reasons. The judgement is accordingly annulled.

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