Protocol Relating to a Certain Case of Statelessness

The undersigned Plenipotentiaries, on behalf of their respective Governments,

With a view to preventing statelessness arising in certain circumstances,

Have agreed as follows:

Article 1.

In a State whose nationality is not conferred by the mere fact of birth in its territory, a person born in its territory of a mother possessing the nationality of that State and of a father without nationality or of unknown nationality shall have the nationality of the said State.

Article 2.

The High Contracting Parties agree to apply the principles and rules contained in the preceding article in their relations with each other, as from the date of the entry into force of the present Protocol.

The inclusion of the above-mentioned principles and rules in the said article shall in no way be deemed to prejudice the question whether they do or do not already form part of international law.

It is understood that, in so far as any point is not covered by any of the provisions of the preceding article, the existing principles and rules of international law shall remain in force.

Article 3.

Nothing in the present Protocol shall affect the provisions of any treaty, convention or agreement in force between any of the High Contracting Parties relating to nationality or matters connected therewith.

Article 4.

Any High Contracting Party may, when signing or ratifying the present Protocol or acceding thereto, append an express reservation excluding any one or more of the provisions of Articles 1 and 5.

The provisions thus excluded cannot be applied against the High Contracting Party who has made the reservation nor relied on by that Party against any other High Contracting Party.

Article 5.

If there should arise between the High Contracting Parties a dispute of any kind relating to the interpretation or application of the present Protocol and if such dispute cannot be satisfactorily settled by diplomacy, it shall be settled in accordance with any applicable agreements in force between the Parties providing for the settlement of international disputes.

In case there is no such agreement in force between the Parties, the dispute shall be referred to arbitration or judicial settlement, in accordance with the constitutional procedure of each of the Parties to the dispute. In the absence of agreement on the choice of another tribunal, the dispute shall be referred to the Permanent Court of International Justice, if all the Parties to the dispute are Parties to the Protocol[1] of the 16^th December, 1920, relating to the Statute of that Court, and if any of the Parties to the dispute is not a Party to the Protocol of the 16^th December, 1920, the dispute shall be referred to an arbitral tribunal constituted in accordance with the Hague Convention[2] of the 18^th October, 1907, for the Pacific Settlement of International Conflicts.

Article 6.

The present Protocol shall remain open until the 31^st December, 1930, for signature on behalf of any Member of the League of Nations or of any non-Member State invited to the First Codification Conference or to which the Council of the League of Nations has communicated a copy of the Protocol for this purpose.

Article 7.

The present Protocol is subject to ratification. Ratifications shall be deposited with the Secretariat of the League of Nations.

The Secretary-General shall give notice of the deposit of each ratification to the Members of the League of Nations and to the non-Member States mentioned in Article 6, indicating the date of its deposit.

Article 8.

As from January 1^st, 1931, any Member of the League of Nations and any non-Member State mentioned in Article 6 on whose behalf the Protocol has not been signed before that date, may accede thereto.

Accession shall be effected by an instrument deposited with the Secretariat of the League of Nations. The Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall give notice of each accession to the Members of the League of Nations and to the non-Member States mentioned in Article 6, indicating the date of the deposit of the instrument.

Article 9.

A procès-verbal shall be drawn up by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations as soon as ratifications or accessions on behalf of ten Members of the League of Nations or non-Member States have been deposited.

A certified copy of this procès-verbal shall be sent by the Secretary-General to each Member of the League of Nations and to each non-Member State mentioned in Article 6.

Article 10.

The present Protocol shall enter into force on the 90^th day after the date of the procès-verbal mentioned in Article 9 as regards all members of the League of Nations or non-Member States on whose behalf ratifications or accessions have been deposited on the date of the procès-verbal.

As regards any Member of the League or non-Member State on whose behalf a ratification or accession is subsequently deposited, the Protocol shall enter into force on the 90^th day after the date of the deposit of a ratification or accession on its behalf.

Article 11.

As from January 1^st, 1936, any Member of the League of Nations or any non-Member State in regard to which the present Protocol is then in force, may address to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations a request for the revision of any or all of the provisions of this Protocol. If such a request, after being communicated to the other Members of the League and non-Member States in regard to which the Protocol is then in force, is supported within one year by at least nine of them, the Council of the League of Nations shall decide, after consultation with the Members of the League of Nations and the non-Member States mentioned in Article 6, whether a conference should be specially convoked for that purpose or whether such revision should be considered at the next conference for the codification of international law.

The High Contracting Parties agree that, if the present Protocol is revised, the new Agreement may provide that upon its entry into force some or all of the provisions of the present Protocol shall be abrogated in respect of all of the Parties to the present Protocol.

Article 12.

The present Protocol may be denounced.

Denunciation shall be effected by a notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, who shall inform all Members of the League of Nations and the non-Member States mentioned in Article 6.

Each denunciation shall take effect one year after the receipt by the Secretary-General of the notification but only as regards the member of the league or non-Member State on whose behalf it has been notified.

Article 13.

1.Any High Contracting Party may, at the time of signature, ratification or accession, declare that, in accepting the present Protocol, he does not assume any obligations in respect of all or any of his colonies, protectorates, overseas territories or territories under suzerainty or mandate, or in respect of certain parts of the population of the said territories; and the present Protocol shall not apply to any territories or to the parts of their population named in such declaration.

2.Any High Contracting Party may give notice to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations at any time subsequently that he desires that the Protocol shall apply to all or any of his territories or to the parts of their population which have been made the subject of a declaration under the preceding paragraph, and the Protocol shall apply to all the territories or the parts of their population named in such notice six months after its receipt by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations.

3.Any High Contracting Party may, at any time, declare that he desires that the present Protocol shall cease to apply to all or any of his colonies, protectorates, overseas territories or territories under suzerainty or mandate, or in respect of certain parts of the population of the said territories, and the Protocol shall cease to apply to the territories or to the parts of their population named in such declaration one year after its receipt by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations.

4.Any High Contracting Party may make the reservations provided for in Article 4 in respect of all or any of his colonies, protectorates, overseas territories or territories under suzerainty or mandate, or in respect of certain parts of the population of these territories, at the time of signature, ratification or accession to the Protocol or at the time of making a notification under the second paragraph of this article.

5.The Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall communicate to all the Members of the League of Nations and the non-Member States mentioned in Article 6 all declarations and notices received in virtue of this article.

Article 14.

The present Protocol shall be registered by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations as soon as it has entered into force.

Article 15.

The French and English texts of the present Protocol shall both be authoritative.

In faith whereof the Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Protocol.

Done at The Hague on the twelfth day of April, one thousand nine hundred and thirty, in a single copy, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Secretariat of the League of Nations and of which certified true copies shall be transmitted by the Secretary-General to all the Members of the League of Nations and all the non-Member States invited to the First Conference for the Codification of International Law.

Belgium:

J. DE RUELLE

Sous réserve d'adhésion ultérieure pour la Colonie du Congo et les Territoires sous mandat[3].

Great Britain and Northern Ireland and all parts of the British Empire which are not separate Members of the League of Nations:

Maurice GWYER
Oscar F. DOWSOX

Charles W. H. LANSDOWN

In accordance with the provisions of Article 13 of this Protocol I declare that His Britannic Majesty does not assume any obligation in respect of the territories in India of any Prince or Chief under His suzerainty or the population of the said territories.[4]

Basanta KUMAR MULLICK

Les Pays-Bas n'entendent assumer aucune obligation en ce qui concerne les Indes néerlandaises, le Surinam et Curaçao[5].

State Parties

Last Updated: 30 June 1999

IN FORCE since July 1st, 1937 (articles 9 and 10).

Ratifications or definitive accessions

Brazil (September 19th, 1931 a)

Great Britain and Northern Ireland[6]and all parts of the British Empire which are not separate Members of the League of Nations (January 14th, 1932)

Burma[7]
His Majesty the King does not assume any obligation in respect of the Karenni States, which are under His Majesty's suzerainty, or the population of the said States.

Australia (July 8th, 1935)
(Including the territories of Papua and Norfolk Island and the mandated territories of New Guinea and Nauru.)

Union of South Africa (April 9th, 1936)

India (September 28th, 1932)
In accordance with the Provisions of Article 13 of this Protocol, His Britannic Majesty does not assume any obligation in respect of the territories in India of any Prince or Chief under his suzerainty or the population of the said territories.

Chile (March 20th, 1935)

China[8](February 14th, 1935)

The Netherlands[9](April 2nd, 1937)
Including the Netherlands Indies, Surinam and Curacao.

Poland (June 15th, 1934)

Salvador (October 14th, 1935 a)

Signatures not yet perfected by ratification

Belgium
Subject to accession later for the Colony of the Congo and the Mandated Territories.

Canada

Colombia

Cuba

Czechoslovakia[10]

Denmark

Egypt

Estonia

France

Greece

Ireland

Japan

Latvia

Luxembourg

Mexico

Peru

Portugal

Spain

Uruguay

Actions subsequent to the assumption of depositary functions by the Secretary-General of the United Nations

[1] Vol. VI, page 379; Vol. XI, page 405; Vol. XV, page 305; Vol. XXIV, page 153; Vol. XXVII, page 417; Vol. XXXIX, page 165; Vol. XLV, page 96; Vol. L, page 159; Vol. LIV, page 387; Vol. LXIX, page 70; Vol. LXXII, page 452; Vol. LXXVIII, page 435; Vol. LXXXVIII, page 272; Vol. XCII, page 362; Vol. XCVI, page 180; Vol. C, page 153; Vol. CIV, page 492; Vol. CVII, page 461; Vol. CXI, page 402; Vol. CXVII, page 46; Vol. CXXVI, page 430; Vol. CXXX, page 440; Vol. CXXXIV, page 392, Vol. CXLVII, page 318; Vol. CLII, page 282; Vol. CLVI, page 176; Vol. CLX, page 325; Vol. CLXIV, page 352; Vol. CLXVIII, page 228; Vol. CLXXII, page 388; and Vol. CLXXVII, page 382, of this Series.

[2] British and Foreign State Papers, Vol. 100, page 298.

[3] Subject to accession later for the colony of the Congo and the mandated territories.

[4] Conformément aux dispositions de l'article 13 de ce protocole, je déclare que Sa Majesté britannique n'assume aucune obligation en ce qui concerne les territoires de l'Inde appartenant a un prince ou chef placé sous sa suzeraineté, on en ce qui concerne la population desdits territoires.

Translation by the Secretariat of the League of Nations:

[5] The Netherlands do not intend to assume any obligation as regards the Netherlands Indies, Surinam and Curaçao.

[6] On 10 June 1997, the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland notified the Secretary-General of the following:

[Same notification as the one made under note in chapter IV.1 (Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide).]

[7] See note in Part II.2 (Special Protocl concerning Statelessness).

[8] See note concerning signatures, ratifications, accessions, etc., on behalf of China (note in chapter I.1 (UN Charter)).

[9] See note in chapter I.1 (UN Charter).

[10] See note 11 in Chapter I.2 (UN Charter).

[11] The instrument of accession contains the following reservation made in accordance with article 4 of the Protocol:

"Article 1 shall only be binding upon the Government of Malawi in cases where the mother of a person referred to therein is both a citizen of Malawi and of African race. However, no such person who is denied citizenship of Malawi because his mother is not of African race shall be precluded from applying for citizenship of Malawi on the grounds of close connection with Malawi, birth in Malawi being regarded as a close connection for this purpose."

[12] The notification of succession contains the following declaration:

"In accordance with article 4 of the Protocol, the Government of Malta declares that:

"(i) article 1 shall apply unconditionally to any person born in Malta on or after the 21st September 1964;

"(ii) in regard to a person born in Malta before the 21st September 1964, article 1 shall only apply, where such person was on 20 September 1964, a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies and one of his parents was born in Malta."