TREATY between the Free City of Danzig and Germany for the Regulation of Questions relating to Options.-Danzig, November 8, 1920.

[Ratifications exchanged at Warsaw, December 17, 1921.]

(Translation.*)

THE Imperial and State Commissioner, Privy Councillor Foerster, representing the German Empire, and the Deputy President of the Council of State of the territory of the future Free City of Danzig, Privy Councillor von Kameke, representing the High Commissioner for the territory of the future Free City of Danzig, being duly authorised, herewith conclude the following Treaty for the regulation of questions relating to options:

ART. I. Such persons shall be considered resident in the territory of the future Free City of Danzig, in accordance with the regulations of Articles 105 and 106 of the Treaty of Peace, as shall have had their domicile in the said territory in conformity with 7 of the Civil Law Code of the 10th January, 1920. The Contracting Parties are agreed that with regard to German nationals who, on the 10th January, 1920, had such domicile both in Danzig territory and in Germany, the provisions of Articles 105 and 106 of the Treaty of Peace, regarding the acquisition of nationality in the Free City of Danzig and the right of option for domicile in Germany, shall not apply.

II. The option is exercised by means of a declaration made to the competent authorities.

The following shall be competent to receive the declarations of those who enjoy the right of option and who are residing in the German Empire or in the territory of the Free City of Danzig: in urban districts, the local police authorities; in rural districts, the sheriff of the place of residence; and in other cases the diplomatic or consular representatives of the German Empire or of Danzig. If the declaration of option is made before any authority outside the territory of the Free City of Danzig, reversion of the nationality of the Free City of Danzig, according to Article 105 of the Treaty of Peace, shall be authenticated by a certificate issued by the Danzig authorities competent to issue certificates of naturalisation.

The declaration must be drawn up in the form of a protocol, or in an authenticated legal or notarial form, and the authority receiving such declaration must issue a voucher in which shall also be entered the members of the family

who have obtained the nationality thus opted. When such a declaration is duly submitted the nationality opted for is, ipso facto, obtained; at the same time the right of reversion provided for in Article 105 of the Treaty of Peace, and the nationality obtained in virtue of that Article, are lost.

III. In the case of orphans under 18 years of age, minors over 18 years of age who are supposed to be incapable of managing their own affairs, and of such persons as have been put under trustees or temporary guardianship, their legal representatives shall exercise the right of opting.

Persons on whose behalf their parents, guardians or other legal representatives have exercised the right of opting shal! be entitled to the right of revoking such option within the period during which it can be exercised, provided they have reached the age of 18 before this period expires, or the reasons for legal representation have lapsed before the period expires. The regulations of Article II of this Convention shall be equally applicable to the exercise of the right to revoke.

IV. The right of opting lapses by waiver of the right duly declared according to Article II. The waiver covers the same class of persons as would have been affected by the exercise of the right of option.

The regulations of Article III shall be equally applicable to the waiver. The exercise of the right to revoke laid down in Article III, § 2, shall be regarded as an exercise of the right of opting.

V. The Government of the Free City of Danzig shall establish in Danzig a central office to collect declarations of option. The competent German and Danzig authorities for the reception of options or waivers of option, as defined in Article II, § 2, and Article IV, must send to this collecting office, at the time of issue. a copy of the vouchers issued by them, as provided in Article II, § 3, and Article IV. The Government of the Free City of Danzig shall furnish the German Government with a quarterly list, the first to be sent on the 1st February, 1921, containing the names of the persons who have exercised or waived the right of option.

VI. Persons who, in accordance with Article 106, § 3, of the Treaty of Peace, transfer their residence to the territory of the German Empire, must not, in the exercise of the right to take with them their movable property, guaranteed to them in Article 106, § 4, of the Treaty of Peace, be subjected to any export prohibition or other legislative or administrative measures; in particular, they must not be subjected to any conversion of money claims, compulsory changing of money or seizure of securities.

VII. Disputes as to the interpretation and execution of the provisions of this Treaty shall be settled by a Commission

consisting of one national of each of the Contracting Parties, which shall meet in Danzig as required.

In all cases where the two members of the Commission do not agree, the dispute shall be settled by a neutral arbitrator, who shall be appointed by agreement between the two Contracting Parties.

VIII. This Treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged as soon as possible at Danzig. The Treaty comes into force on the day of exchange of ratifications. Danzig, November 8, 1920.

FOERSTER,

German Imperial State Commissioner.

КАМЕКЕ,

Deputy President of the Council of State.

DANISH LAW relative to the Incorporation of the Slesvig Territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.-Amalienborg, July 9, 1920.

(Translation.)

WE, Christian IX, by the grace of God, King of Denmark and Iceland, Vandals and Goths, Duke of SlesvigHolstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsh, Lauenborg and Oldenborg, hereby make known that Parliament has adopted, and we with our assent have confirmed, the following Law:

ART. 1. The territory which, in accordance with the last sentence of Article 110* of the Peace Treaty of Versailles of the 28th June, 1919, is ceded to Denmark, shall be incorporated in the Kingdom and be called the Slesvig territory.

2. This Law comes into force forthwith.

All concerned must conform to this Law.

Given at Amalienborg, the 9th July, 1920, under our Royal hand and seal.

LAW relative to the Acquisition of Danish Nationality in connection with the Incorporation of the Slesvig Territory into Denmark.—Marselisborg, September 5, 1920.†

(Translation.)

WE, Christian X, by the grace of God, King of Denmark and Iceland, of the Wends and Goths, Duke of SlesvigHolstein, Stormarn, Ditmarsken, Lauenborg and Oldenborg,

* Vol. CXII, page 70.

+ Parliamentary Paper, Miscellaneous No. 7 (1922)." This version gives the text of the Law of September 5, 1920, as amended by the Law of June 12, 1922.

make known: the Rigsdag has approved and we by our consent have enacted the following Law:

ART. 1. Danish nationality shall be acquired by those persons who, on the 15th June, 1920, were permanently domiciled in the Slesvig territory and who up to that time were of German nationality unless they became resident in that territory after the 1st October, 1918.

The word residence or domicile as used in this Law shall be taken to mean the place where the party concerned has his fixed and permanent abode.

Persons who, on the 15th June, 1920, were permanently domiciled in the Slesvig territory, but who before the 7th June, 1922, transferred their residence to Germany, do not, however, acquire Danish nationality by virtue of the first paragraph of this Article, unless they have already obtained a certificate of nationality issued by the Ministry of the Interior, or apply to the Ministry for such a certificate before the 14th June, 1922. Persons who, after the close of the year 1920, have emigrated from the Slesvig territory shall, however, be entitled to apply for a certificate of Danish nationality up to the 15th August, 1922.

The Minister of the Interior shall be authorised to order registration of the persons who conform to the conditions stipulated in the first paragraph of this Article.

The certificate proving that a person is of Danish nationality, in virtue of the first paragraph of this Article, shall be issued by the Ministry of the Interior, or by the Chief Magistrate of the district concerned, in accordance with special directions given by the Ministry of the Interior.

2. Persons who, in pursuance of Article 1, first paragraph. are of Danish nationality, but who, before the 1st January, 1923, opt for German nationality, and who, in the course of the twelve months immediately following the handing in of the Declaration of Option, take up residence within the German Empire, lose their Danish nationality. Danish nationality shall, however, also be forfeited, even if residence is not transferred to the German Empire, when the party concerned is domiciled outside Denmark and Germany, and obtains from the German Government exemption from taking up residence in Germany. The forfeiture shall be reckoned from the day when the Declaration of Option was handed in to a competent German authority, or, in so far as the declaration shall have been officially registered, from the date of such registration.

Should the transfer of residence not have taken place before the expiration of the time-limit of twelve months specified in the foregoing paragraph, and should also exemption, in pursuance of the second sentence of that paragraph, not have been obtained, the Declaration of Option

shall be regarded as not having been given, and the person opting shall be regarded as not having changed nationality.

Declaration of Option for Germany may be made by men, unmarried women, widows and divorced wives, provided that they have attained their eighteenth year; also the legal trustees of orphans under 18 years of age may make a Declaration of Option on their behalf, but the declaration may be withdrawn by the ward up to the 1st January, 1923, provided that he or she shall have reached the age of 18 before that date. Declarations of Option cannot be withdrawn in other circumstances.

A husband's loss of Danish nationality, in pursuance of the first paragraph of this Article, shall also comprise his wife and children under 18 years of age; a widow's or divorced wife's forfeiture of nationality shall likewise also comprise her children under 18 years of age; in so far as a divorced wife is concerned, however, only when she has the guardianship of her children.

3. Persons who were born in the Slesvig territory, but who are not of Danish nationality in virtue of Article 1, and who are either in possession of German nationality, or, pursuant to the declarations of the German authorities, have forfeited German nationality in consequence of absence or desertion from German military service, shall be entitled to acquire Danish nationality by making a Declaration of Option before the 15th June, 1922, on condition that, in the course of the twelve months following the handing in of the Declaration of Option, they take up residence in Denmark, if they are not already domiciled there. For persons opting, who are not domiciled in Germany, the stipulation regarding domicile in Denmark may, however, be withdrawn by the Ministry of the Interior, provided they do not also possess the nationality of the State where they are domiciled.

Acquisition of nationality shall be reckoned from the day when the Declaration of Option was handed in to the competent Danish authority, but, should the transfer of residence not have taken place before the expiration of the time-limit of twelve months, as specified in the previous paragraph, or should the stipulation for domicile not have been withdrawn by the Ministry of the Interior, the Declaration of Option shall be regarded as not having been given, and the person opting shall be considered as not having changed nationality.

Declaration of Option for Denmark, whether by men, unmarried women, widows, divorced or judicially separated wives, can, however, only be made when they have attained their eighteenth year; also a legal trustee may make a Declaration of Option for orphans under 18 years of age, but such a declaration can be withdrawn by the ward up to the [CXIV] 2 z 2