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States’ ability to restrict entry. 80 Beyond this, however, treaties provided no guidance regarding the implications of nationality.
Neither the ILA’s Committee nor the preparatory committee
for the Draft Convention discussed what, precisely, nationality entailed. Indeed, a comment to Article 1 of the Draft Convention noted, “No attempt is made in this draft to define the meaning of allegiance.” 81 Scholars found State practice regarding the implications
of nationality too varied to codify or even develop. 82 Though some
scholars had attempted to equate nationality with citizenship, the preparatory committee for the Draft Convention rejected the notion that
nationality “necessarily involve[s] the right or privilege of exercising
civil or political functions.” 83 States had, since the development of
territorial sovereignty, distinguished between citizens “participating
in the sovereign power” and subjects merely “subjected to the laws of
the State.” 84
2. Nationality and Diplomatic Protection
Though nationality did not secure particular citizen rights, it
was of great importance, as evidenced by the extensive discussion
regarding how nationality ought to be extended. Diplomatic protection, only available by virtue of nationality, provided the exclusive
avenue for bringing individuals’ international claims. Stateless individuals had no recourse for State-caused injury and had no international legal rights. In the 1931 Dickson Car Wheel Company Case,
the Mexico/U.S. General Claims Commission declared, “A State . . .
does not commit an international delinquency in inflicting an injury
upon an individual lacking nationality, and consequently, no State is
empowered to intervene or complain on his behalf either before or
80. See generally Reale, supra note 48.
81. Harvard Draft Convention on Nationality, 23 AM. J. INT’L L. SPECIAL SUPP. at 23;
Maximillian Koessler, “Subject,” “Citizen,” “National,” and “Permanent Allegiance”, 56
YALE L.J. 58, 69 (1947) (quoting the Commentary to Article 1 of the Draft Convention).
82. Id. (“It may be observed, however, that the ‘tie of allegiance’ is a term in general
use to denote the sum of the obligations of a natural person to the state to which he belongs.
The draft itself does not spell out these obligations, since they are quite different in different
societies”).
83. Id.; See, e.g., Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1874) (refusing female citizens the
franchise); Gonzalez v. Williams, 192 U.S. 1 (1904) (holding that Puerto Ricans are not
“aliens” or “alien immigrants” but refusing to recognize Puerto Ricans as full citizens).
84. Koessler, supra note 81, at 61 (quoting Rousseau’s distinction between the two
concepts).
Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2954729