CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ PERSONAL STATUS OF REFUGEES: THE ORIGINAL INTERNATIONAL SOLUTION issued them. They were allowed to enter and stay in another country. Keeping alive the general visa regime was a continuing consequence of the World War. The visa was still the equivalent of a permit to cross the border and to reside. 32 Visas were issued very carefully to refugees by states unless such a passport allowed the refugee to return to the country of its issuance. In accordance with the Arrangement of May 1926 relating to the Issue of Identity Certificates to Russian and Armenian Refugees, Czechoslovakia accepted a political commitment to issue return visas if the states concerned applied the same principle. 33 Subsequently, according to the 1928 Arrangement relating to the Legal Status of Russian and Armenians Refugees, some states had introduced a return clause into Nansen’s passports. The clause simplified the process of granting the visa. Otherwise, it was always difficult for refugees to be granted the permission to enter or reside. International identity certificates ( instrumenta publica ) had produced a variety of legal effects. The passport validated the identity of the person for whom it was issued. It contained details of its holder: name, first name, date and place of birth, father’s and mother’s surname, occupation, former residence in Russia and current residence. The latter, as well as the fact that the person is of Russian origin, were essential for determining the legal and personal status of refugees. Besides, the passport included a photograph of the holder and his detailed description (age, hair, eyes, face, nose and other personal traits). The passport had not only of the effects of a genuine refugee certificate of identity. It allowed the holder to access social security or employment in the country of asylum. 34 It also ensured a residence permit in the state where the passport had been issued by the competent authority. Nevertheless, the system of international identity certificates had never reached universal application. The practice of states that recognized Nansen’s passports 35 had turned away from the expected uniformity, particularly in terms of the rights and benefits granted to refugees. The recommendations resulting from the Arrangement were executed by the states in a non-homogeneous and lenient way. The issuance of these certificates had been undermined by the rigid and formal approach of the state organs in many countries. The cautious attitude of states towards issuing these passports was later reflected in the discussions on their extension to stateless persons. 36 Form of the normative result The practical situation of Russian and Armenian refugees was so far based on the content of the concept of law. 37 National legal orders predominantly included leges generales . In particular, civil codes governed the legal status of foreign or stateless persons, sometimes also 32 Důvodová zpráva, vládní návrh zákona o cestovních pasech, Senát Národního shromáždění, 1927, II. volební období, 5. zasedání, tisk 535. 33 Arrangement relating to the Issue of Identity Certificates to Russian and Armenian Refugees, supplementing and amending the previous Arrangements dated July 5, 1922, and May 31, 1924, May 12 t , 1926. League of Nations, Treaty Series , Vol. LXXXIX, s. 47. 34 HOLBORN, L. W. The Legal Status of Political Refugees, 1920-1938. American Journal of International Law , 1938, Vol. 32, No. 4, p. 683. 35 As many as 155 000 Nansen Passports were issued. 36 League of Nations Documents, Transit. 1927.VIII.15.III. 37 Documents préparatoires et procès-verbaux de la conférence intergouvernmentale pour le statut juridique des réfugiés 28 –30 Juin 1928. Arrangement et Accord du Juin 1928. Série de Publications de la Societé des Nations, XIII. Réfugiés 1930, p. 5. 3.

87