24 & 25 Vict. c. 114. 24 & 25 Vict. c. 121. 31 & 32 Vict. c. 20. 31 & 32 Vict. c. 37. 31 & 32 Vict. c. 45. 31 & 32 Vict. c. 72. Wills Domicile Act, 1861 Legitimacy Declaration (Ireland) Act, 1868 Sea Fisheries Act, 1868. 33 Vict. c. 14. Naturalization Act, 1870 S. 2 s. 3 S. 4 S. 5 s. 6 S. 7 s. 8 S. 9 S. 10 S. II 33 & 34 Vict. c. 77. 33 & 34 Vict. c. 102. 35 & 36 Vict. c. 39. 37 & 38 Vict. c. 88. 41 & 42 Vict. c. 33. 41 & 42 Vict. c. 73. 44 & 45 Vict. c. 58. 44 & 45 Vict. c. 62. 45 & 46 Vict. c. 9. 45 & 46 Vict. c. 50. 46 & 47 Vict. c. 22. 49 & 50 Vict. c. 48. 50 & 51 Vict. c. 28. 52 & 53 Vict. c. 23. 52 & 53 Vict. c. 63. Veterinary Surgeons Act, 1881. Patents Act, 1882. Scotch Herring Fisheries Act, 1889 53 & 54 Vict. Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1890. 55 & 56 Vict. c. 23. 56 & 57 Vict. c. 43. 57 & 58 Vict. c. 60. 229, 231, 235 138, 248, 278 278 46, 47, 91, 95, 97, 102, 103, 157, 169, 225, 250 ΤΟ THE MEMORY OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD RUSSELL OF KILLOWEN G.C.M.G. LATE LORD CHIEF JUSTICE OF ENGLAND. Introduction. The Position of Nationality in Law. Nationality imports allegiance. Men still swear that they Introduction. will be faithful and bear true allegiance to their Sovereign Lord the King and the alien may throw off his alienage, and, repeating the venerable formula, assume the allegiance of the subject› Yet beyond the right to call himself Englishman, he knows little, save in a general way, of what other rights he has become possessed, nor what the duties are which he has undertaken. We boast that we are citizens of no mean country; yet to define nationality is no easy task: the effect of naturalization is an unsettled question : and the consequences of allegiance are diffi cult to state. The Statute Book itself is the Statute of Allegiance, and statutory obedience has taken the place of that unwritten bond which tied the subject to his Sovereign. Yet the name remains, and there is still attached to it the personal feeling of respect and loyal devotion to the Sovereign which is the modern substitute for knightly service: a feeling which the naturalized alien is expected to share, for a certificate of his loyalty is required before he can be admitted subject. The object of this book is to establish what British nationality is to show how it exists, how it may be assumed, and how shaken off and to determine the principles on which its conse quences rest in this country, on the high seas, and abroad. It is extraordinary that so important a subject as nationality should still be in a state of confusion, that it should be still possible for a man not to know to what nation he belongs, that it should be still possible for a man to be claimed as subject by two, and perhaps two hostile, States. "Double-nationality" is still a possible state of existence, with its inevitable consequence, a twofold allegiance. And so also is "No-nationality", the state in which a man is cast adrift upon the world, and from which many curious consequences may flow: ranging from the commission of murder with impunity in countries without regular forms of government, to the acquisition of uninhabited islands in his own right of sovereignty. The astonishment is not caused by the fact that there should be points of difference in the details of the laws of nationality adopted by different nations, but by the fact that the progress of the world having developed social and commercial re ntroduction lations between nations, and having clearly shown how points of difference have become points of conflict, there should have been so little attempt to arrive at order out of chaos, to reduce the resulting inconveniences to a minimum. Our own not very satisfactory contribution to the settlement of the question dates only from 1870. But there is a practical side to the question. Save in time of war, when rival States may claim the services of the same individual, and he be liable to be shot for taking arms against his Sovereign, whichever standard he elect to follow in the conflict save in time of war, the question of nationality per se is not in law of supreme importance. Although some rights and duties are still dependent on it, more especially when the subject is beyond the realm, many are entirely independent of it. Progress has beaten down the walls of partition which in old times kept States and their subjects apart from one another. Commerce has broadened the paths along which men may walk with impunity regardless of their nationality. The fusion of men's interests has led, and still leads, to the confusion of their nationality, and th obliteration of its consequences: and the law, following, as it is bound to follow, the march of events and the effect of time, has slowly worked out new doctrines to meet the new necessities. In due course and after many delays, it may be found possible to put these new doctrines into coherent shape: to make their adoption by different States more uniform in detail, and above all to perfect the procedure by which they may be enforced and acted on. The primitive idea which nationality involved, obedience to the Sovereign, was suited to the times when men lived more at home, when intercourse and commerce with the outer world were difficult and tedious. Quite in keeping with that idea were the writs forbidding departure from, and of recall to, the realm; but the first has become a statutory writ, and the last has passed out of mind. All other obedience due to the King has changed to obedience to Acts of Parliament. That aliens coming within the realm should also come within the compulsion of this obedience, needs no explanation or justification: but it is due to the fundamental principle which governs the operation of Acts of Parliament, and not to allegiance; although the books have invented to misnomer "temporary allegiance" to describe the legal position of the resident alien. That subjects passing beyond the realm, still fall under |