Administrative Court of Munich, December 11, 2019, Case No. M 25 K 17.2264
It can happen that a person’s nationality is not definitively established or is disputed for other reasons (e.g. after losing the birth certificate). The Nationality Act (StAG) was enacted, among other things, to solve such cases. It also provides the possibility of obtaining a certificate of nationality, which as an official document can resolve such doubts. But can even Germans whose German nationality is beyond doubt apply for such a document?
The Bavarian Administrative Court Munich (VG München) has made it clear in the following judgment that in cases beyond doubt, there is no interest in a substantive decision and the authority therefore does not have to issue a certificate of nationality.
Facts of the Case:
Father wants a certificate of nationality for himself and his two children
In the present case, the parties are disputing the claim to the issuance of a certificate of nationality. The plaintiffs are a father and his two children, the defendant is an immigration authority.
On November 21, 2016, the father applied for the determination of German nationality and the issuance of a certificate of nationality for himself and his children. The authority rejected the applications on the grounds that there was no need to issue a certificate of nationality, as it had no doubts about the German nationality of the plaintiffs. The family also possessed German identity documents.
Authority rejects issuance of the certificate – Father sues before the administrative court
The father filed a lawsuit against this decision, as he did not consider the identity documents to be a reliable proof of nationality. He also stated that he needed the certificate of nationality for real estate transactions abroad. For these reasons, he had an interest in the issuance of a certificate. He therefore requested that the authority be obliged to issue the certificate of nationality.
The immigration authority requested the dismissal of the lawsuit, as it denied a justified interest in the issuance.
Decision of the Administrative Court Munich:
Administrative court dismisses lawsuit as inadmissible and unfounded
The Administrative Court of Munich dismissed the lawsuit. It considered it already inadmissible. The lawsuit was inadmissible for the minor children of the father, as they were not properly represented in court and thus were not capable of being a party to the proceedings in accordance with § 62 VwGO.
The lawsuit was also inadmissible for the father, as there was no interest in a substantive decision. The lawsuit due to inactivity pursuant to § 75 sentence 1 alternative 2 VwGO requires that the authority has not decided on the merits without sufficient reason within a reasonable period of time. However, this was not the case here, as the authority had not remained inactive without justification.
Authority was justifiably inactive, as there was no interest in a substantive decision
Rather, the authority had remained inactive because there was obviously no claim to the determination of German nationality pursuant to § 30 (3) sentence 1 StAG. Although the wording of the norm does not reveal any special application requirement, such as the existence of a special interest in the determination, this follows from the general principle that administrative action must as a rule be omitted if it is meaningless. This also applies to an application pursuant to § 30 (3) sentence 1 StAG.
Nationality has never been questioned or disputed
There is no purpose because there are no doubts about the plaintiff’s German nationality and the nationality has never been disputed by any authority. Nor has the presentation of the certificate of nationality been necessary for real estate transactions so far, nor is such a necessity apparent. Therefore, the authority does not have to become active; there is no interest in a substantive decision.
Source: VG München
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