Doc. No. 15 (G).
Memorandum Concerning the Clauses of the Peace Treaty on Nationality and the Legal Position of Persons Living in Ceded Territory
Article 13
1. Under paragraph 1, Italian citizens who were domiciled on 10 June, 1940, in territory to be transferred by Italy shall (except in case of option) become nationals of the State to which the territory is transferred with full civil and political rights, in accordance with legislation to be introduced to that effect by that State within three months of the coming into force of the present Treaty.
The latter provision permits of an interpretation which could certainly not have been intended by those who drafted it, and on the strength of which the rights of the new citizens might be more limited than the rights enjoyed by other citizens, if the special legislation which is envisaged should so provide.
To avoid any misunderstanding it would be necessary to omit the latter provision, and to lay down that the persons aforementioned should enjoy the same civil and political rights as are provided for other nationals of the State.
2. Paragraph 2 provides a right to opt for Italian nationality in ceded territory. If the Italian proposals in regard to territorial clauses should not be accepted, the territory which Italy would lose in the East would be partly ceded to Yugoslavia and partly made into an autonomous State (The Free Territory of Trieste). Therefore, considering the close ties of kinship, commerce, etc. which have [Page 141] always existed between Trieste and the other parts of Istria, the Italian delegation requests that Italian nationals in the ceded territories should be granted the right to opt for citizenship of the Free Territory of Trieste.
Incidentally, the conditions governing the exercise of the right of option, as also the supervision of those conditions, should not be restricted to the State to which the territory is ceded. It is, therefore, suggested that provision should be made for the necessary guarantees in accordance with the principles which have been adopted on other occasions (e.g. the options in Upper Silesia, the German-Polish Convention of Geneva of 15th May, 1922).
3. In addition to the above rule, it is essential that Article 13 should make provision to guarantee to Italians domiciled in ceded territory who become nationals of the Successor State, full equality in law and in fact with other nationals of that State, as well as the right to retain their own cultural and educational institutions and to make free use of their language.