Russian Nobleman Nationality Case

Date08 Marzo 1971
CourtRegional Court (Germany)
Federal Republic of Germany, Superior Provincial Court (Oberlandesgericht) of Bavaria
Russian Nobleman Nationality Case1
STATE TERRITORY

State territory In general Effects of changes of sovereignty On nationality Russian Revolution, 1917 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

States as international persons In general Extinction of States Effect on nationality The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

States as international persons Succession of governments In general Effect on nationality Russian Revolution, 1917 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

The individual in international law Nationality Acquisition of Nationality as affected by change of sovereignty Conditions for acquisition of nationality Whether governed by international law or a matter for State discretion Changes in sovereignty over State territory Effect on nationality Russian Revolution, 1917 The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

The individual in international law Miscellaneous Refugees Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951, Article 12 (2) Whether has retroactive effect on rights acquired under old personal status The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

Treaties Conclusion and operation of Operation and enforcement Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 Whether has retroactive application The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

Treaties Interpretation of Agencies of interpretation Presumed intention of the parties Policy considerations Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 Whether has retroactive application The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

War and neutrality Warfare on land Occupation of enemy territory Nature and effects of the occupation Extent of legislative power of occupying State The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

The individual in international law Nationality Expatriation Loss of Nationality Emigration Whether automatically results in loss of nationality Conditions for acquisition and loss of nationality Whether governed by international law or State discretion Succession of governments Russian Revolution, 1917 Effect on nationality Changes in sovereignty over State territory and extinction of States Effect on nationality Russian citizen abroad Whether affected by Soviet decree abolishing nobility Personal and territorial jurisdiction Definition Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951, Article 12 (2) Whether having retroactive effect on acquired rights Wartime occupation Extent of legislative power of occupying State Principle of good faith Applicability to measures enacted during occupation The law of the Federal Republic of Germany

Summary: The facts:The principal complainant brought an action for a declaration that he could continue to use the title of nobility which had been used by his ancestors. His wife also applied to be allowed to use her husband's title. He had been born in 1913 in the Province of Oesel which at that time was one of the Russian Baltic provinces. His ancestors were entered in the book of peerage of Oesel as Freiherrn von St. Having been born in Russia and descended from an old-established line, he acquired Russian nationality at birth. He emigrated from Russia in October 1917 at the time of the Revolution. His entitlement to use the title Baron depended upon whether a Soviet Decree issued by the Revolutionary Government in November 1917, which abolished titles of nobility, had applied to him even though he was no longer living in Russia at the time of its enactment. This in turn depended upon his nationality at that date. He claimed that by fleeing from Russia he had lost his Russian nationality. The action was rejected by the Provincial Court and an appeal was lodged.

Held:The appeal was dismissed.

(1) There was no rule of constitutional or international law that emigrants lost their former nationality by the mere fact of having left their country of origin. In principle every State determined for itself who were its nationals and how its nationality could be acquired and lost. It was generally

recognized that the conditions for the acquisition and loss of its nationality were an internal discretionary matter for each State. The Soviet Revolutionary Government had acted in accordance with these principles, initially regarding Russian emigrants as de jure Soviet citizens and only depriving them of their nationality by decree in 1921. The complainant had not acquired any other nationality in the intervening period and therefore became a stateless person as a result of that Decree

(2) The overthrow of the Czarist regime and the seizure of power by the Revolutionary Government did not involve any loss of nationality since there was merely a change in the holder of State power. The fact that the home country of the complainant, Estonia, subsequently became independent of the rest of the Soviet State, made no difference. Only in the event of a State disintegrating into new States did the nationality of the old State disappear. In such a case the inhabitants lost their present nationality and automatically acquired that of the new State, whereas persons living abroad became stateless. With regard to Russia, however, this did not apply since the nucleus of the State remained and there had occurred merely cessions and secessions of peripheral regions.

(3) The complainant was therefore affected by the Soviet Decree on the abolition of the nobility of November 1917, there being no indication that it was not intended to have extraterritorial effect and to apply also to Russian nationals living abroad. It was a general principle of international law that there were two bases for the exercise of the jurisdictional power of States, personal and territorial. Territorial jurisdiction applied only to those persons situated within the territory of the State at the relevant time, including aliens and stateless persons. Personal jurisdiction on the other hand, which was the basis of the Decree in question, applied to all those persons subject to such jurisdiction by reason of their possession of the nationality of the State concerned, even if they were abroad at the time of the enactment of the measure in question. The fact that the Estonian State established in the complainant's home country in 1918 had subsequently repealed the Soviet Decree, with retroactive effect on its territory, made no difference. The complainant had not acquired Estonian nationality so that there was no basis on which Estonian jurisdiction could apply to him, since he had been living abroad at the relevant time.

(4) The subsequent alteration of the personal status of the complainant and the application to him of Article 12 (2) of the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which protected rights acquired by refugees under their old personal status, could not alter the position. There was no evidence from the history or the circumstances of the negotiation of the Convention...

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