SUBJECT: Brief analysis of the Judgment of the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia case no.: Usž-2840/21-4 of April 29, 2022
Legal matter: issuance of a travel document for stateless persons B.D.
The High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia /HAC RC/ decided: the plaintiff’s appeal is accepted and the judgment of the Administrative Court in Osijek, business number: 3 Usl-18312021-6 of June 2, 2021, is annulled.
In point II. sentence of the Judgment states: the plaintiff’s claim is accepted and the Decision of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, l. Appeals Commission, class: UP/ll-217-O2119-061151, registration number: 317-19-5 of December 1, 2020 and Decision of the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Croatia, Osijek-Baranja Police Department, Beli Manastir Police Station, no: 511-O7-25-04-UPll-19412-2019 of September 21, 2020 and the case is returned to the same body for retrial.
In the pronouncement of the Judgment, it is indicated that within 60 days from the date of delivery of this judgment, the defendant shall reimburse the costs of the administrative dispute in the amount of HRK 6,250.00.
The High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia, examining the first-instance verdict within the limits of the reasons stated in the plaintiff’s appeal, found the legal basis that the disputed Verdict violated the law to the detriment of the plaintiff. For these reasons, the HAC of the Republic of Croatia considers that the appeal is founded.
The High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia defines in the explanation of the Judgment that the plaintiff requested the issuance of a travel document referring to the international act Convention, that she was born in Turin, Republic of Italy, does not have personal documents, that she has lived in the Republic of Croatia since 2010 with her husband and seven children who are Croatian citizens, and that she has a regulated residence – temporary residence. It is also stated that with the request she submitted a certified translation of the certificate from the city of Turin, which shows that her birth certificate was not entered in the birth register for the area of the Municipality of Turin, and a certified translation of the statement of the registrar of the city of Turin that she was not recorded in the registry books of the city of Turin, which specifically means that the search for books of citizens gave a negative result.
The High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia particularly gave importance to Art. 1 paragraph 1 and Art. 28 /passport/ Convention from 1954 and took the position that the documents that the plaintiff attached to the request are valid evidence and that the plaintiff in terms of the above-mentioned art. 1 paragraph 1 of the Convention – stateless person.
According to the above, the HAC of the Republic of Croatia returns the case for re-decision to the first-instance body, which is obliged to determine whether the plaintiff, as a stateless person, meets the conditions for issuing the requested travel document, whether she resides legally in the territory of the Republic of Croatia /temporary, permanent residence/ and depending on the established facts make a decision based on the Law.
Sisak, June 27, 2022
CRP Sisak