Polish citizenship

THE LOSS OF POLISH CITIZENSHIP

 Contrary to what one might expect, it is often easier to acquire the citizenship of a certain state (e.g. Poland) than to lose it. Currently one cannot freely renounce one's Polish citizenship. Moreover, no one can be punished by the revocation of their Polish citizenship. In the past, however, in some circumstances Polish citizenship could have been lost as it were automatically and certain categories of people were deprived of their Polish citizenship.

Current rules for the loss of Polish citizenship -
in force since 15 August 2012

 A Polish citizen who renounces his/her Polish citizenship, loses Polish citizenship after obtaining consent from the President of the Republic of Poland for the renouncement of Polish citizenship. The President of the Republic of Poland may, at the request of a Polish citizen, grant consent for the renouncement of Polish citizenship by this citizen. The consent for the renouncement of Polish citizenship by a minor remaining under the sole parental authority of the person or persons without Polish citizenship, occurs at the request of the minor’s statutory representatives. In the absence of agreement between the statutory representatives, each of them may apply to the court for a determination.

Rules for the loss of Polish citizenship -
in force from 1 January 1999 to 15 August 2012

 A Polish citizen loses his/her Polish citizenship at his/her own request after obtaining consent from the President of the Republic of Poland for the renouncement of Polish citizenship. The consent for the renouncement of Polish citizenship granted to the parents extends to the children remaining under their parental authority. The consent for the renouncement of Polish citizenship granted to one of the parents extends to the children remaining under his/her parental authority if the other parent has no parental authority, or the other parent is not a Polish citizen, or the other parent is a Polish citizen and expresses consent before a competent authority to the loss of Polish citizenship by the children.

 If the other parent is a Polish citizen and objects to the extension to the children of the consent for the renouncement of Polish citizenship granted to the parent who applied for consent, or if the parents cannot reach an agreement due to obstacles that are difficult to overcome, each of the parents may apply to a court for a resolution. The consent for the renouncement of citizenship extends to children aged sixteen or older only with their consent.

NOTE
text translated automatically from the Polish version

The rules in force from August 22, 1962 to January 1, 1999

Earlier, the loss of Polish citizenship was related to the acquisition of another citizenship.

Subject to exceptions to the law provided for, a Polish citizen may acquire foreign citizenship only with the permission of the competent Polish authority to change citizenship. The acquisition of foreign citizenship entails the loss of Polish citizenship. The permission to change citizenship granted to parents extends to children who remain under their parental authority. Permission to change citizenship granted to one parent extends to children remaining under parental authority, when the other parent does not serve parental authority or is not a Polish citizen or - being a Polish citizen - expresses consent to change the citizenship of children before the competent authority. If the second parent, being a Polish citizen, opposes changing the citizenship of children or when the parents' agreement encounters obstacles which are difficult to overcome, each of the parents may turn to the court for a decision. The permission to change citizenship extends to children who have attained sixteen years of age only with their consent.

In addition, there were special rules for women.

A Polish citizen who:

  1. in accordance with foreign law, acquired citizenship as a result of marriage with a foreigner or in connection with the conclusion of such a marriage or
  2. having acquired foreign citizenship, as a result of marriage with a Polish citizen or in connection with the marriage, Polish citizenship, after which the marriage ceases or has been annulled and this person has foreign citizenship under foreign law, loses Polish citizenship if he makes a relevant statement before competent Polish authority and this authority will issue a decision on the acceptance of the statement.

Polish authorities also had the option of depriving Polish citizens of a given person:

A Polish citizen who resides abroad may be deprived of Polish citizenship if:

  1. breached the duty of loyalty to the Polish People's Republic,
  2. acted to the detriment of the vital interests of the Polish People's Republic,
  3. illegally left the territory of the Polish People's Republic after 9 May 1945,
  4. refused to return to Poland at the request of the competent state authority,
  5. avoids the military duty provided for by Polish law,
  6. he / she was convicted abroad for a crime constituting a common crime also in the understanding of Polish law or a recidivist.

If the decision on deprivation of Polish citizenship can not be delivered to the person to whom the decision relates, or if the decision refuses to accept such a decision, the deposition of the decision on the deprivation of Polish citizenship at the premises of the competent Polish consular office replaces his delivery within fourteen days.

The rules in force from January 19, 1951 to August 22, 1962

Under the previous rule, the rules were similar. However, there were no specific provisions regarding women.

A Polish citizen may acquire foreign citizenship only after obtaining permission from the Polish authorities to change citizenship. The permission to change citizenship, given to parents, extends to children who remain under their parental authority. The permission to change citizenship, granted to one of the parents, extends to children who remain under his parental authority when the other parent is not a Polish citizen or - being a Polish citizen - expresses consent to the competent authority to change the citizenship of children. If the other parent is opposed to changing citizenship or if the parents' agreement encounters obstacles that are difficult to overcome - the case is decided by the court. The permit extends to children over thirteen only with their consent. The acquisition of foreign citizenship in accordance with the above principles entails the loss of Polish citizenship.

A Polish citizen who resides abroad may be deprived of Polish citizenship if:

  1. breached the duty of fidelity to the Polish State,
  2. acted to the detriment of the vital interests of People's Poland,
  3. illegally left the territory of the Polish State after 9 May 1945,
  4. refused to return to the country at the call of the competent authority,
  5. avoids the fulfillment of military duty,
  6. he was convicted abroad for a common crime or a recidivist.

Deprivation of Polish citizenship can be extended to deprived children who are overseas, who are under thirteen years old.

The rules in force from April 1, 1938 to January 19, 1951

In the above period, a special law on the deprivation of Polish citizenship was in force.

A Polish citizen who resides abroad may be deprived of Polish citizenship if:

  1. acted abroad to the detriment of the Polish State or
  2. residing abroad for at least 5 years after the establishment of the Polish State, he lost contact with the Polish statehood or
  3. while abroad, he did not return to Poland within the set time limit at the request of the foreign office of the Republic of Poland.

The decision on deprivation of Polish citizenship is issued by the Minister of Interior at the request of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The decision does not require justification and is immediately enforceable. The decision is subject to appeal to the Supreme Administrative Court.

Loss of Polish citizenship extends to his wife and his father (illegitimate mother) to his (her) children under the age of 18, if they are abroad and have not been deprived of their citizenship in the deprivation order. Exclusion of a wife and children can take place if from the whole of life relations it appears that they did not remain in actual marital or family life with their husband or father (illegitimate mother) and there are no circumstances under which they can deprive someone of Polish citizenship

Polish citizenship can also be deprived of the wife of a Polish citizen spontaneously, if from the whole of her life relations the breaking of the actual marital community results, and if there are circumstances regarding it, intended to deprive Polish citizenship.

Persons who have been deprived of Polish citizenship for this Act, even after obtaining foreign citizenship, may only temporarily stay in the territory of the Polish State with the prior consent of the Minister of the Interior. Anyone who, contrary to the above provision, stays in the territory of the Polish State, is punished by imprisonment of up to 5 years and a fine.

It is worth mentioning that deprivation of Polish citizenship prior to 1 September 1939, persons who on January 19, 1951 had their place of residence in Poland were canceled.

On the other hand, persons who were deprived of Polish citizenship before 1 September 1939 and who lived on 19 January 1951 abroad could have been restored to Polish citizenship by the State Council. This possibility existed until August 22, 1962

In addition, the loss of Polish citizenship could take place under general provisions

Loss of Polish citizenship took place:

  1. by acquiring foreign citizenship;
  2. by accepting a public office or entering the military service in a foreign country without the consent of the competent voivode (Government Commissioner of the capital city of Warsaw), expressed in cases of intentions to enter the military service in a foreign country, in agreement with the competent commander of the corps.

Persons who are obliged to active military service may acquire foreign citizenship, other than upon obtaining a release from general military duty, in accordance with the applicable regulations, otherwise they will not cease to be considered Polish citizens for the Polish State.

The rules in force from December 22, 1932 to April 1, 1938

During this period, there was no special law on the abolition of Polish citizenship and therefore only general provisions were applicable to the loss of Polish citizenship.

Loss of Polish citizenship took place:

  1. by acquiring foreign citizenship;
  2. by accepting a public office or entering the military service in a foreign country without the consent of the competent voivode (Government Commissioner of the capital city of Warsaw), expressed in cases of intentions to enter the military service in a foreign country, in agreement with the competent commander of the corps.

Persons who are obliged to active military service may acquire foreign citizenship, other than upon obtaining a release from general military duty, in accordance with the applicable regulations, otherwise they will not cease to be considered Polish citizens for the Polish State.

The loss of Polish citizenship extends to a wife losing Polish citizenship or to his children, under the age of 18.

The rules in force from January 31, 1920 to December 22, 1932

Loss of Polish citizenship follows:

  1. by acquiring foreign citizenship;
  2. by accepting a public office or joining a military service in a foreign country without the consent of the Polish Government.

Persons who are obliged to active military service may acquire foreign citizenship, other than by obtaining permission from the Minister of Foreign Affairs

Military, otherwise they will not cease to be considered Polish citizens for the Polish State.

The loss of Polish citizenship extends to a wife losing Polish citizenship or to his children, under the age of 18.

Other legal acts depriving Polish citizenship

  1. principles resulting from the decree of September 13, 1946, excluding from the Polish society people of German nationality and defects resulting from the regulation of the MINISTER OF JUSTICE of 10 April 1947, issued in agreement with the Ministers: Public Security, Public Administration, Recovered Territories, Foreign Affairs and Treasury - on proceedings in cases concerning the exclusion of German nationality from the Polish society (the decree was in force from November 8, 1946 to January 19, 1951, the regulation in the period from April 25, 1947 to January 19, 1951)
  2. rules resulting from the regulation of February 6, 1925 of the Minister of the Interior on the acquisition and loss of Polish citizenship as a result of the option under the Treaty of Peace between the Allied Powers and Associations and Austria signed in St.-Germain-en-Laye on September 10, 1919.
  3. principles resulting from the ordinance of the Minister of the former Prussian District and the Minister of Internal Affairs of 13 July 1920 on the acquisition and loss of Polish citizenship in accordance with art. 91 of the Treaty between the Allied Powers and Skojarzoniów and Germany, signed at Versailles on June 28, 1919 (Journal of Laws of the Republic of Poland No. 35, item 200).
  4. principles resulting from the regulation of 11 June 1921 of the Minister of the Interior on the acquisition and loss of Polish citizenship on the basis of art. VI Treaty of Peace between Poland and Russia and Ukraine, signed in Riga on March 18, 1921.

Resolution of the State Council

According to art. 11 of the Act on Polish Citizenship of January 8, 1951, "a Polish citizen could acquire foreign citizenship only after obtaining the permission of the Polish authorities" (paragraph 1), and this involved the automatic loss of Polish citizenship (paragraph 5). The authority entitled to issue the said permit was the Council of State, which ruled on the loss of citizenship at the request of the Prime Minister (Article 13 of the Act of January 8, 1951 on Polish Citizenship). The Act does not specify a special form of issuing such a permit, although in art. 13 para. 3 indicates that the announcement in the Polish Monitor replaces the delivery, which may suggest that we are dealing with individual consent each time delivered to the addressee or, exceptionally, announced in the Monitor.

On January 23, 1958, the Council of State issued a resolution authorizing the change of Polish citizenship to persons leaving for permanent residence to the State of Israel. Earlier, a similar resolution was issued to German repatriates. None of the resolutions was published. Persons who met the conditions (German repatriates or persons returning to Israel for permanent residence) submitted applications to the Council of State, and then received travel documents, in which there was an entry stating that the holder of the document was not a Polish citizen. Such an entry obviously does not mean a real loss of Polish citizenship. Even assuming that the discussed resolutions are consenting to a change of citizenship within the meaning of the Act of 1951, a person wishing to lose Polish citizenship in this mode would first have to acquire foreign citizenship, which could have happened only after reaching the destination country, and thus the issuance of the document itself travel does not testify to the loss of Polish citizenship. In order to determine whether the loss actually occurred, it should be considered whether all the conditions expressed in art. 11 and 13 of the Act of January 8, 1951 on Polish citizenship were fulfilled, so whether the interested party submitted an appropriate application, which was then covered by the request of the Prime Minister to the Council of State; whether the Council of State issued a permit to change citizenship and whether the person obtained new citizenship. Such steps would have to be taken if we were to recognize that the resolution of the State Council No. 5/58 is indeed a legal effect giving consent to a change in citizenship. However, this issue raises many doubts, which seem to lead to the conclusion that the resolution in question can not be attributed to the legal force due to the non-compliance with the legal form required by law.

Starting the considerations, it is worth analyzing the legal nature of the acts of the Council of State. The Council of State was an independent supreme organ of state power and was subject in all its activities to the Sejm. She had masterful and law-making competences. At the same time, the view reflected in the doctrine and case law should be approved (judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 18 April 1985, file reference: III SA 404/85), namely that the Act of June 14, 1960. The Code of Administrative Procedure, and the previous Presidential Regulation The Republic of Poland of 22 March 1928 on administrative proceedings, did not apply to the proceedings before the Council of State (as it was not an administrative body in the understanding of the then administrative code). The interpretation adopted by the Supreme Court (judgment of the Supreme Court of September 17, 2001, file reference number III RN 56/01) and the Supreme Administrative Court (judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of August 11, 2000, file reference No. V SA 117/00) are similarly accurate. ) according to which "until the Council of State issued its allegedly independent resolution No. 37/56, there were no legal grounds in the Act of 1962 on Polish citizenship and in the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic of 1952. Even if it were assumed that this resolution could be taken under the general constitutional competence of the Council of State, could not change - as a normative act of a lower order - the absolutely binding provisions of the Citizenship Act, precisely defining the procedure for changing Polish citizenship to foreign citizens, entailing the loss of Polish citizenship ". This means that the indicated resolutions (Resolution No. 5/58 but also Resolution No. 37/56) could be issued only on the basis of art. 25 section 1 point 11 of the Constitution of the Polish People's Republic of 23 July 1952 ("/ Council of State / performs other functions, provided for by the State Council in the Constitution or passed on to it by laws") in connection with art. 11 and art. 13 of the Act of January 8, 1951 on Polish citizenship, and thus had to meet the requirements imposed by the indicated provisions.

The issue raised many times was the subject of adjudication by both the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw and the Supreme Administrative Court. Also, the Supreme Court expressed its opinion on a similar issue (the resolution of the issue whether compliant with the change of citizenship could be expressed in a resolution of a general nature). The three main paths of reasoning represented in the case law are presented below. Earlier, it is worth mentioning that the judgments referred to below relate in truth both to the Act on Polish Citizenship of 1951 and the later Act of 15 February 1962 on Polish Citizenship. These acts, however, normalized the institution of losing Polish citizenship by acquiring foreign citizenship in an almost identical manner, as emphasized by Professor Walenty Ramus (W. Ramus, Institutions of Law on Polish Citizenship, Warsaw 1980, p. 249), hence the views formulated in the Act on 1962 can also be referred to earlier regulation. Similarly, the opinions of the courts (especially the Supreme Court and the Supreme Administrative Court) and the literature on the resolution of the Council of State No. 37/56 are adequate in this matter, because the resolution concerned similar issues (collective consent for changing citizenship to German repatriates without delivering to recipients or publication in Monitor) and was issued on the same legal basis. According to the predominating case law (judgments of the Supreme Administrative Court: dated October 14, 2005, file reference: II OSK 267/05, dated October 27, 2005, file reference: II OSK 1001/05, dated 27 October 2005, file reference number: II OSK 965/05, dated December 14, 2005 file reference number: II OSK 1085/05, dated August 29, 2007 file reference: II OSK1153 / 06; Provincial judgments Administrative Court in Warsaw: dated 15 April 2005, file reference number II SA / Wa 2149/04, dated 6 October 2004, file reference number: V SA 3946/03, dated 25 September 2008; Act: IV SA / Wa 1113/08, dated 21 May 2008, file reference: IV SA / Wa 549/08, judgment of the Supreme Court of 17 September 2001, file reference number: III RN 56 / 01) "permission to change Polish citizenship as a premise for the loss of citizenship under Articles 13 and 16 of the Act of 15 February 1962 [also Article 11 paragraph 1 in connection with Article 13 paragraph 1 and 2 of the Act of January 8, 1951] about Polish citizenship, had to have the nature of an individual and addressed act of the Council of State addressed to a specific addressee, which the general resolution of the State Council could not replace "(judgment of the Supreme Court of 17 September 2001, Ref. file: III RN 56/01). This interpretation results from a grammatical-linguistic interpretation, as indicated by the use of the phrases "ruling", "ruling" and that the decision takes place at the request of the Prime Minister, and the announcement in the Polish Monitor replaces delivery - consent to change of citizenship must be the first act of applying the law, and secondly, it must be individual and concern a specific subject. In one of the judgments (file reference: II SA / Wa 2149/04), the WSA in Warsaw stated: "this resolution / resolution of the Council of State No. 5/58 / can not be treated as a legal act that corrects the lack of individual authorization in relation to the applicant, which, when submitting an application for permission to change citizenship, launched proceedings provided for in Article 13 of the Act of January 8, 1951 on Polish citizenship, which, however, was not completed, because the Council of State did not issue an individual permit to change citizenship by the applicant. she did not lose Polish citizenship. " Polish citizenship can not be lost simply by starting the procedure under art. 11 of the Act of 1951, ie by submitting the application itself - individual consent to change the citizenship should be issued and then delivered to the addressee or announced in the Polish Monitor. Only this will have legal effects described in the referenced provisions.

However, the interpretation described above is not the only one. It should be pointed out that there is a different view in literature, mainly represented by professor Walenty Ramus, according to which "it may have been possible and purposeful to grant general permission to acquire citizenship of a given country by certain categories of persons, when the change of citizenship concerns more people ". However, this opinion is isolated in both doctrine and jurisprudence and does not deserve approval. The issue of general resolutions actually took place at that time and was generally considered to be correct. However, the fact that something was widely regarded as lawful and practiced does not make it such. Resolutions of the Council of State did not meet statutory requirements, so legal effects can not be attributed to them.

The third remarkable point of view was expressed, inter alia, in the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 27 October 2005 (file reference: II OSK 965/05). In the justification of the judgment, we read that it can not be ruled out in advance that the resolution of the State Council No. 5/58 has the effect of losing Polish citizenship. The occurrence of this effect is in fact impossible in the case of entities that submitted applications after passing a resolution, because it can not be expressed in accordance with a request that has not been submitted yet. However, this is not obvious when the application was submitted before the resolution was issued. In such a situation, it can be argued that the resolution is individual and refers to entities identified by virtue of characteristics (entities on the list of persons for whom the Prime Minister submitted an application to the Council of State). The verdict does not resolve the issue, but it gives it to the Provincial Administrative Court.

The position described above, like Professor Ramus' view, is also not dominant and is not successful. It has been criticized, inter alia, by professor Jacek Jagielski, who in his speech states: "Resolution 5/58 of the Council of State, due to its legal structure and the reasons for its development, can not be identified with a legally effective permit to change nationality provided for in the Act of 1951 as one of the conditions for the loss of citizenship, both with regard to persons who filed an application for release from Polish citizenship after passing the resolution, and those who applied before the adoption of the resolution. "

It is difficult to disagree with the views of Professor Jacek Jagielski and the dominant part of the case law. Resolution No. 5/58 of January 23, 1958, did not give rise to legal consequences in the form of the loss of Polish citizenship by persons covered by it, as it was not a consent to change citizenship within the meaning of the Polish Citizenship Act of January 8, 1951.