CYIL Vol. 7, 2016

DALIBOR JÍLEK – JANA MICHALIČKOVÁ CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ intention of participating countries was to enter into multilateral treaties with an ambition of universality. However, the conventions were ratified by only a close group of states. The conventions from the turn of the century were built on the principle of nationality, which was not convenient for many third states. 46 The parties expected that the principle of nationality would bring the most favourable and most effective regulation of conflict laws. These expectations turned out to be just a romantic and erroneous belief. Any of the Hague conventions of the turn of the century did not regulate applicable law for cases of composite law systems. 47 The application of Hague conflict-of-laws rules based on the principle of nationality failed in an era of massive cross-border movement of people. The Russian revolution caused involuntary and massive inflows of refugees. Russian refugees residing abroad for a longer time were deprived of nationality in 1921 by the decree of the All- Russian Central Council and the Council of People’s Commissars. The reason for the deprivation of nationality was abandonment of Russia after 7 November 1917 or residence abroad for more than five years. So individuals became stateless and were deprived of de iure legal protection. Their factual and legal bond with their home state was completely broken. Thus the international community must have restored their legal status in the form of surrogate protection. The international community being formed in the League of Nations always reacted to the critical situation belatedly. Ad hoc international treaties were adopted under the aegis of the League of Nations. The 1928 Arrangement Relating to the Legal Status of Russian and Armenian Refugees regulated the personal law of refugees distinctively from the international treaties adopted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law at the turn of the century. 48 The Arrangement departed from the principle of nationality simply because it applied to persons who did not want to or could not live in their state of origin or appplied to stateless persons who did not have a place to return to. The principle of nationality changed into a purposeless and vain connecting factor. The concept of nationality was useless. Its conceptual role could not have been filled by Russian and Armenian refugees. The Arrangement included a reasonable scheme of connecting factors. The prescribed solution provided for legislative or application choice. The Arrangement referred to the law of the country of domicile or of the habitual residence of refugees: Il est recommandé que le statut personnel des réfugiés russes et arméniens soit régi dans les pays où leur ancienne loi n’est plus reconnue, soit par la loi de leur domicile ou de leur résidence habituelle, soit, à défaut, par la loi de leur résidence. Cette 46 See Article 1 of the 1902 Convention relating to the settlement of guardianship of minors in the French version: «La tutelle d’un mineur est réglée par sa loi nationale.» 47 NADELMANN, Kurt H., op. cit. , p. 439. 48 League of Nations Treaty Series, Vol. LXXXIX, No. 2005.

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