Jurisdiction

1958 convention with the USSR

Judgments of courts:

Convention between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the USSR on the regulation of citizenship, persons with dual citizenship, signed in Warsaw on 21 January 1958.

1. Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of September 18, 2025, Case II OSK 1805/24

   Regarding the complainant's allegations that the 1958 Convention may not have been properly promulgated in the USSR, it should be noted that the Supreme Administrative Court is authorized to examine only the legal effects of this agreement in the Polish legal system. Although Article 10 of this Convention provides that it shall be published in the periodical press of the Contracting Parties, the examination of whether and how the other state party to this agreement published it in an official journal and implemented its provisions, including by publishing information about this agreement in the press, remains beyond the scope of review by both Polish public administration bodies and the Polish administrative court (see judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of April 23, 2010, Case II OSK 565/09).

2. Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 6 May 2015, Case II OSK 2371/13

   The complainant argued that he was born in the United States, his parents lived in the United States, and at the time the 1965 Convention entered into force, they had previously acquired American citizenship. According to the complainant, the USSR had an exclusive principle of Soviet citizenship and did not simultaneously recognize the citizenship of a foreign state. Consequently, persons emigrating to the US and acquiring US citizenship were treated as having lost USSR citizenship upon leaving the country. The Court of First Instance's position that this objection was inadmissible is incorrect, as the complainant failed to demonstrate that, as a result of emigrating to the US and acquiring US citizenship, his mother lost Soviet citizenship. In the Supreme Administrative Court's opinion, the complainant's view is correct that the impact of acquiring American citizenship on the potential possession of Soviet citizenship should have been determined by the Minister ex officio, and failure to do so constituted a violation of procedural rules. The Supreme Administrative Court agrees with the position expressed in the cassation appeal that this determination concerned the text of foreign law, specifically Soviet law regarding citizenship, in particular the possible grounds for its loss, for example, as a result of acquiring foreign citizenship. It cannot be overlooked that the complainant attached to the complaint the decision of the Minister of Internal Affairs of (...) February 2012, issued in a different case, which indicates that, as part of the evidentiary proceedings, the authority requested information from the Head of the Consular Section of the Polish Embassy in Moscow as to whether a Soviet citizen who emigrated to Israel for permanent residence in 1975 and acquired Israeli citizenship lost Soviet citizenship. The answer was that Soviet citizens emigrating to Israel were treated as having lost their USSR citizenship upon leaving the country. Therefore, the applicant's doubts as to whether a similar situation existed with respect to Soviet citizens emigrating to the USA are justified. Without clarification on this point, it was unjustified to conclude that the applicant's mother held Soviet citizenship at the time of his birth. Consequently, the 1965 Convention was unjustified and it was found that, under its provisions, the applicant held Soviet citizenship through his mother and that he had lost Polish citizenship acquired through his father.

3. Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 18 November 2013, II OSK 1364/12

   In the absence of evidence confirming the fact that the applicant's parents submitted a joint declaration of choosing Polish citizenship for him, it was found that the applicant lost Polish citizenship on 8 May 1958 on the basis of the Convention between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the USSR on the regulation of citizenship, persons with dual citizenship, signed in Warsaw on 21 January 1958 (Journal of Laws No. 32, item 143).

4. Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 19 July 2011, II OSK 1124/10

   A boy whose parents did not submit a declaration of choice of citizenship does not have Polish citizenship, because his parents did not submit a declaration of choice of Polish citizenship within the prescribed period, as a result of which they lost Polish citizenship on that date, which also concerned their minor son.

   In accordance with the Convention of 21 January 1958 concluded between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the USSR on the regulation of citizenship of persons with dual citizenship, persons residing in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties, who according to the legislation of the Contracting Parties are their citizens, could choose the citizenship of one of the Contracting Parties on the basis of this Convention. This Convention provided that persons residing in the territory of one of the Contracting Parties and wishing to choose the citizenship of the other Contracting Party, should file a declaration at the Embassy or Consulate of that other Contracting Party, and declarations of choice of citizenship could be filed within one year from the date of entry into force of the Convention. Persons who did not file a declaration of choice of citizenship within the above period were, in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, recognized exclusively among the citizens of the Contracting Party in whose territory they reside.