(wyrok Naczelnego Sądu Administracyjnego z dnia 10 marca 2026 r. II OSK 2293/23)
The ruling arose from a case in which the father of an applicant for confirmation of Polish citizenship emigrated after the war as an orphan—he lost his father—to the newly established state of Israel. The administrative authorities and the court of first instance found that since he was a minor, his citizenship depended on his father’s citizenship. Since he had no father, it should be assumed that his citizenship was solely his own. Therefore, since he acquired Israeli citizenship in September 1948, in accordance with Israeli law, he simultaneously lost Polish citizenship under Article 11 of the Act of January 20, 1920, on the Citizenship of the Polish State. The argument was based on the interpretation that Article 13 of the aforementioned Act. The Act (The granting and loss of Polish citizenship, unless otherwise stipulated in the act of granting or in the judgment on the loss of citizenship, extends to the wife of the person acquiring or losing Polish citizenship, as well as to his children up to the age of 18) protects the family only during the father’s lifetime.
The Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) did not agree with the above assessments. It based its arguments on several grounds. First, through interpretation, it pointed to the need for full legal capacity. Second, the lack of parents who would adopt the applicant’s father or other legal guardians, and the need to act based on contemporary standards of child rights protection. Third, the ambiguous status of citizenship in the State of Israel, which was regulated only in 1952.
In summary, the SAC indicated that, due to the need to protect the rights of the child, the issue of loss of Polish citizenship should be assessed specifically. Until 1952, the State of Israel was formally a state without citizens. However, the Supreme Administrative Court argues that the lack of full legal capacity should be taken into account here, which prevented the applicant’s father from taking actions aimed at preventing him from obtaining citizenship of the State of Israel, and consequently from losing Polish citizenship.
