Citizenship on Paper: On the Risk of Statelessness of Polish Children Raised in Same-Sex Unions Abroad

紙上的公民身分：關於在國外同性婚姻中成長的波蘭兒童之無國籍風險問題

本文探討在波蘭法律下，造成兒童無國籍狀態之新興成因。兒童的無國籍狀態可能出現於以下的情形：他們的外國出生證明不被採取屬人主義的法律制度所承認，理由是他們以同性之人作為父母，並且他們的出生地並不承認屬地主義。這種無國籍狀態之成因可被定性為技術性的，蓋這是在國籍法沒有規定公民身分證明之情形下，亦無法透過其他調解程序以獲得身分和旅行證件所產生之結果。因此，同性伴侶的孩子儘管是法律上的公民──純粹是書面上意義的──但並未有任何實質上意義。他們確實是無國籍之人，因為他們並未享有其作為法律上公民所應得之國民待遇。這種無國籍狀態可能只是一個暫時的障礙，但亦有高度可能具有永久性，或至少是無限期的。此一問題在波蘭長期是策略性的訴訟問題。
因此，本文討論了領事部門和關鍵紀錄登記處對身分和旅行文件之行政程序。本文尚概述行政法院（在司法審查之後）對於父母為同一性別之人的出生證明所為之不同決定。最後，本文亦涉及最高行政法院最近的一則決議，該決議有效地阻止所有不相關的訴訟。最高行政法院指出，可以根據前述之外國出生證明以獲得正式的公民身分（身分證、護照、PESEL字號）。然而這也導致行政當局面臨新一波問題。本文最後強調歐洲委員會和歐盟法律對此一問題之發展，係當局在處理「違法」出生證明相關議題之潛在良方，並以此作為結論。

The paper discusses a new cause of statelessness of children that is currently emerging under Polish law. Statelessness in children can arise in situations where their foreign birth certificate is not tolerated by the legal system of ex-lege nationality iure sanguinis on the grounds of disclosing persons of same-sex as parents and the place of birth does not confer nationality iure soli. This cause of statelessness can be characterized as technical because it arises where citizenship law does not regulate proof of citizenship and mediates the acquisition of identity and travel documents through other procedures. The children of same-sex couples are thus citizens de iure--purely on paper--but not in any meaningful practical sense, effectively becoming stateless because they do not receive the treatment of nationals by the state of which they are citizens in this manner. This sort of statelessness can be just a temporary hurdle, but it may well be permanent or at least indefinite. The matter has been the subject of strategic litigation in Poland.
Accordingly, this paper discusses the administrative proceedings before consular sections and vital-records registers for identity and travel documents. It also provides an overview of the diverging decisions of administrative courts (following judicial review) concerning the transcription of birth certificates disclosing persons of the same sex as parents. Lastly, it deals with the recent resolution of an extended panel of the Supreme Administrative Court effectively forestalling all such litigation as irrelevant. The SAC held that access to formal citizenship (ID, passport, PESEL number) may be granted on the basis of such a foreign birth certificate; this, however, has led to its own wave of problems with administrative authorities. The paper concludes by highlighting the developments in the Council of Europe and European Union’s law as a potential cure against the palpable malaise of administrative authorities in respect to ‘offending’ birth certificates.