CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

DALIBOR JÍLEK

CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ

CZECHOSLOVAKIA: CERTIFICATES AND PASSPORTS OF REFUGEES (1918–1930)* Dalibor Jílek

Abstract: The studymooted seems tobe the first contribution to the issue of personal documents granted by the Czechoslovak authorities to Russian, Ukrainian, or Armenian refugees. The issuance of personal certificates of residency, Czechoslovak provisional (temporary) passports, or personal certificates of identity (Nansen passports) was in the competence of different state authorities with the distinct public functions and powers. For a longer time, Czechoslovak organs acted upon Austro-Hungarian passport prescriptions. The new Czechoslovak passport regime founded upon sub-statutory pieces of the legal empire was not sufficiently sophisticated. Therefore, competent authorities completely relied on internal instructions: especially ministerial circulars. Plainly, the fragile legal situation of refugees was modified in 1928. As a modern element of the legislation, the Passport Act provided for the issuance of certificates of identity to refugees. Resumé: První uprchlíci z carského Ruska přicházeli již po říjnovém převratu v roce 1917. Na začátku dvacátých let 20. století organizovalo příchod uprchlíků československé mi- nisterstvo zahraničních věcí. Totéž ministerstvo řídilo tzv. ruskou pomocnou akci. V roce 1921 bylo jeho ruské oddělení pověřeno vydávat osobní průkazy na pobyt. Rakouské pasové předpisy, recipované do československého právního řádu, umožnily šéfu zemské politické správy vystavovat uprchlíkům československé prozatímní pasy. Československý pasový re- žim byl hlavně založen na interních instrukcích: ministerských oběžnících. Křehká právní situace uprchlíků se změnila v roce 1928, kdy byl schválen zákon o cestovních pasech. Zá- kon upravil vydávání průkazů totožnosti (Nansenovy pasy). Key Words : investigative description, functional analysis, so-called Russian aid operation, control at frontiers, personal certificate of residency, internal instruction, circular, general passport duty, Czechoslovak provisional passport, personal certificate of identity (Nansen passport). About the Author: Prof. JUDr. Dalibor Jílek, CSc ., is a professor of public international law at the Faculty of Law, Palacký University in Olomouc, at the Faculty of Law, Pan- European University in Bratislava, and a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. Explanatory note The overall purpose of this study is to draw a comprehensive picture of the political and legal conduct of the authorities of the young Czechoslovak state towards refugees, in particular, from Soviet Russia. At the very onset, their arrival into the Czechoslovak territory was orchestrated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It later changed into an uncontrolled 1.

* The paper was written with the support of a research project „Status of children in EU asylum law“ , IGA_ PF_2017_006.

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