CYIL vol. 9 (2018)

CYIL 9 ȍ2018Ȏ CZECHOSLOVAKIA: CERTIFICATES AND PASSPORTS OF REFUGEES The first political reservation was of a personal nature. Access to the mentioned arrangements was completely limited to refugees of Russian and Turkish (Armenian) citizenship. They once had to have an effective Russian or Turkish (Armenian) citizenship that they lost before 1 January 1923 , without subsequently acquiring citizenship of another state. The stipulation adhered to the ad hoc descriptive definition of Russian and Armenian refugees, with the exception of the time constraint. 102 The decisive time frame for the issuance of personal certificates to Russian and Armenian refugees differed from the date used in ministerial circular no. 69.508-5 dated 11 October 1923. 103 It was shortened by nine months, which was a major amendment compared to national certificates of residency. The second reservation was linked to the ratio of international political commitments versus Czechoslovak law. The government refused to accept any political commitment that it was not able to implement within the framework of its national legal order. Such a rudimentary legislation establishing a national passport regime was Act no. 55 of 1928. Chiefly, section 5 of the Act governing the issuance of certificates for Russian and Armenian refugees. National passport authorities, not international bodies, were entrusted to issue them. The third political reservation related to the visa regime dealt with reciprocity. The government, in relation to the arrangement of 12 May 1926, stated that it was committed to issuing visas to refugees for their return to Czechoslovakia, but only towards states which had accepted the same commitment. The commitment was rooted in material reciprocity. The government thus met the requirements of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Armenian diaspora, as well as those of Fridtjof Nansen, 104 in connection with solving the urgent refugee problem in Europe. In relation to the 1928 Arrangement of Relating to the Legal Status of Russian and Armenian Refugees, the government stated that it reserves the right to withdraw at any time its consent to the recommendation that authorized the High Commissioner for refugees, by appointing representatives, to render specific services. 105 These services concerned certifying the identity and the position of the refugees. Representatives of the High Commissioner could also certify the identity and the position of refugees, their family position, and civil status, in so far as these are based on documents issued or action taken in the refugees’ country of origin. Moreover, these representatives had powers to testify to the regularity, validity, and conformity with the previous law of their country of origin, of documents issued in such a country, and to certify the signature of refugees, copies, and translations of documents drawn up in their own language. They were empowered to testify, before the authorities of the receiving state, the good character and conduct of an individual refugee, their previous record, to their qualifications, and university or academic standing. These international agents could recommend an individual refugee to 102 Arrangement relating to the Issue of Identity Certificates to Russian and Armenian Refugees, supplementing and amending previous arrangements dated 5 July 1922 and 31 May 1924. Signed in Geneva, 12 May 1926. League of Nations, Treaty Series , 1929, Vol. LXXXIX, No. 2004, p. 48. 103 Inflow of Russian and Ukrainian Emigrants (Příliv ruských a ukrajinských emigrantů). Circular of the Ministry of Interior no. 69.508-5, 11 October 1923. Official gazette of the Ministry of Interior of the Czechoslovak Republic , Praha, Rolnické tiskárny, 1923, ročník V, p. 425. 104 Fridtjof Nansen was appointed to the office of High Commissioner by the Council of the League of Nations on 20 August 1921. 105 Société des Nations . Archives 1928-1932. Registry No. 1A/12086/11812. Refugiés, Arrangement du 30 Juin 1928. Adhésion de la Tchécoslovaquie.

61