laws of the two sicilies.
By the civil code of the Two Sicilies provision was made both for naturalization and expatriation.
A royal decree of the 17th December, 1817, provided that special naturalization may be granted after one year’s residence to any one who has rendered important service to the state, and ordinary naturalization after ten years’ consecutive residence, on giving proof of means of subsistence and declaring intention to become domiciled in the kingdom.3
Expatriation followed on entry into a foreign military service, but the person expatriated still remained subj ect to the penal law if he re-entered the kingdom after having taken up arms against it.4
Permission was given to enter a foreign service on condition that the person to whom it was granted should not take any oath on accepting such service, except with a reservation that he should not be called upon to take arms against the Two Sicilies, and with the understanding that he should not be accredited to that country as embassador or minister.
[Page 1290]laws of sardinia.1
The civil code of Sardinia of 1837, known as the “Codice Albertino,” contains the following among other provisions respecting aliens:
“19. A child horn abroad of a father who enjoys civil rights is also a subject, and exercises all the rights of one.”
“24. A child born in the State of an alien who has established his domicile therein, with intent to remain permanently, is considered a subject.”
“The intention to establish a permanent domicile is shown by an uninterrupted residence of ten years for other than commercial purposes.”
“42. Aliens who have been naturalized lose the privileges of naturalization by an absence from the kingdom for one year without the King’s permission.”
conscription law.2
The army law of the Kingdom of Italy is very strict. (Regolamento sul Recluta-mento dell’ Esercito:” March 31, 1855.)
- Sec. 21. The sons of an alien born within the State, who are comprised within the terms of the 24th article of the civil code, are considered as citizens, and must inscribe their names, or cause them to be inscribed, on the levy list of the communes in which they reside.
- Sec. 22. Aliens and their sons who are admitted to enjoy civil rights, and are presumed to be citizens according to the civil code, are obliged to inscribe their names in like manner, unless the class to which they belong by age has furnished its contingent.
- Sec. 23. Aliens who, according to the code, are considered citizens, or have been naturalized, must inscribe their names and satisfy the obligations of the levy, although they may be required for military service and maintained to be subjects of their native state.
- Sec. 24. The sons of a naturalized citizen born before his naturalization must be inscribed on the list of their last place of residence in the state.
- Sec. 25. Naturalization abroad, without the King’s permission, does not exempt from the conscription, and the inscription of the name must be at the last place of residence within the state.
- Sec 26. Diplomatic and consular agents abroad to send to the minister of war every year lists of the citizens resident within their jurisdiction who are liable to the conscription.
Such persons to be warned that they are required to return to their native country to fulfill their obligations, under penalty of incurring the law for the punishment of contumacy.
Regulations made for persons residing in countries distant more than six hundred miles off, with certain reservations, and for the case of those who are undergoing legal punishment in a foreign country.
revised italian code.
By a decree of the 2d of April, 1865, the government was authorized to publish anew revised civil code for the Italian kingdom, and this code was accordingly prepared and came into operation on the 1st of January, 1866.
The code is of great interest and importance as being the last code published founded on the Code Napoléon.
It may therefore be supposed to contain all the additions and alterations which experience has proved requisite.
An official copy has been furnished by Sir A. Paget for use in this memorandum.3
The following is a translation of the provisions of the first book of the code:
“Of citizenship and the enjoyment of civil rights.
“1. Every citizen enjoys civil rights who has not been deprived of them by a penal sentence.
“2. Communes, provinces, civil and ecclesiastical establishments, and in general all legally recognized public bodies, are considered as personal, and enjoy civil rignts according to the laws and usages of public right.
“3. An alien is admitted to enjoy the civil rights appertaining to citizens.
“4. The child of a citizen is a citizen.
[Page 1291]“5. If the father has lost his citizenship before the birth of the child, the latter is reputed a citizen if he is born within the state and resides therein.
“Nevertheless, on becoming of age, according to the laws of the realm, he may elect to take the quality of an alien on making a declaration before the authorities of the civil state in which he resides, or, if in a foreign country, before the royal diplomatic or consular agents.
“6. The child born in a foreign country, of a father who has lost his citizenship “before the child’s birth, is reputed as alien.
“He can, however, elect to take the quality of a citizen on making a declaration as prescribed by the preceding article, and fixing his domicil in the kingdom during the year in which he makes such declaration.
“Nevertheless, if he has accepted public employment in the kingdom, or has served in the army or navy, or otherwise satisfied the requirements of the conscription, without seeking exemption as an alien, he shall be considered a citizen without further process.
“7. When the father is unknown, the child of a citizen-mother is a citizen.
“When the mother has lost her citizenship before the birth of the child the dispositions of the two preceding articles become applicable.
“If even the mother is unknown, a child born in the kingdom is a citizen.
“8. The child of an alien who has established his domicile within the kingdom uninterruptedly for ten years is considered a citizen; residence for commercial purposes is not sufficient to constitute domicile.
“The child can, however, elect to be considered an alien on making the declaration prescribed in article 5.
“When the alien has not established his domicile in the kingdom for ten years, the child is considered an alien; but the dispositions of the two first paragraphs of article 6 are applicable to the case.
“9. An alien woman who marries a citizen acquires citizenship, and preserves it even in widowhood.
“10. Citizenship is conferred on an alien, together with naturalization, by law or by royal decree.
“Royal decree will not be effectual unless it be registered by the proper civil authority of the state in the place where the alien intends to establish or has established his domicile, and unless an oath has been taken by him, before the said official, to be faithful to the King and to observe the statutes and laws of the realm.
“The registration must be effected within six months of the date of the decree, which will be otherwise annulled.
“The wife and minor children of an alien who has obtained citizenship become citizens on condition of their also establishing their residence in the realm, but the children can elect to take upon them the quality of aliens on making the declaration prescribed in article 5.
“11. Citizenship is lost—
- “(1.) On renunciation by declaration before the proper civil authority of the province wherein the person resides and subsequent emigration to a foreign state.
- “(2.) By naturalization in a foreign country.
- “(3.) By accepting employment from a foreign state without previous permission of the Italian government, or by entry into the military service of a foreign power.
“The wife and minor children of one who has lost his citizenship become aliens, unless they have continued to reside within the realm.
“Nevertheless, the wife can re-acquire citizenship in the case and by the means stated in the second paragraph of article 14, and the children according to the second and third paragraphs of article 11.
“12. Loss of citizenship in the cases stated in the preceding article does not exempt from the obligations of military service, nor from the penalty inflicted on any one who bears arms against his native country.
“13. The citizen who has lost his citizenship for any of the reasons stated in article 11 will recover it—
- “(1.) By returning to the realm with the special permission of the government.
- “(2.) By renunciation of the foreign citizenship, employment, or military service acquired in the foreign country.
- “(3.) By declaring before the proper civil authority of the state an intention to establish domicile within the realm, and by so bona fide estabUshing it within a year.
“14. A woman who is a citizen, and who marries an alien, becomes alien; since by the act of marriage she acquires the citizenship of her husband.
“On becoming a widow she recovers citizenship by residence within or return to the realm on declaring in either case, before the civil authority of the state, her intention to establish her domicile therein.
“15. The acquisition or restoration of citizenship in the cases aforesaid does not take effect until the day after that in which the required conditions and formalities are complied with.”
[Page 1292]In the articles of the code of which the foregoing is a translation, the expression “cittadinanza” is used to express citizenship; hut it will he seen, on referring to article 10, a distinction is drawn between citizenship (“cittadinanza”) and naturalization (“naturalità.”)
This is owing to the fact that Italian citizenship, properly speaking, is local; the provinces being divided, for the purposes of conscription and taxation, into districts, within one of which every Italian is bound to have his name inscribed on the district lists.
This “cittadinanza,” therefore, corresponds somewhat to the German “bürger-recht,” and as a local honorary privilege is conferred on distinguished persons, like our “city freedom.”
Thus Garibaldi was presented with the “cittadinanza “of all the Italian towns. The distinction is of no great importance, as, by article 1, “every citizen enjoys civil rights,” but it may be worth mentioning.