Report on Citizenship Law: East Timor (Timor-Leste) argued that the use of the term ‘Timorese’ instead of ‘Timorese citizen’ is deliberate and is meant to evoke a ‘Timorese national identity’ anchored in ethnic, historic and cultural traits. However, this line of reasoning raises a number of problems. First of all, there is no indication in the constitutional text as to what that ‘Timorese national identity’ might be. The references to fatherland (pátria) and Maubere people, in the Preamble and in Article 11 (1), are not particularly illuminating. Furthermore, the sheer existence of an ethnic identity specific to Timor-Leste is highly disputed in the literature, in view of the diversity of physical, cultural and linguistic traits observable among the indigenous populations (Lisson 2008: 1488-1489). On the other hand, if ‘Timorese’ is to be taken as synonymous with ‘Timorese citizen’, we still need to know from what point in time we should start recognising the existence of Timorese citizens for the purposes of Article 3 (3) of the Constitution. As mentioned earlier, to set that time threshold on 20 May 2002 would lead to the absurd result of keeping the application of Article 3 (3) on hold for 17 to 20 years, until the first Timorese citizens became parents. Neither the Nationality Act nor the Nationality Regulation help clarify matters. As the law stands, it is up for the government to clarify any doubts arising in the interpretation and application of the Nationality Act and this includes the meaning of ‘Timorese’ in Article 8 (2) of the Nationality Act, which replicates Article 3 (3) of the Constitution. The criteria set by the 1999 New York Agreements and later by UNTAET may be of some use here. The matter is yet to reach the Timorese courts. Acquisition of citizenship by underage children based on the acquisition of citizenship by one of the parents: Per Article 9 of the Nationality Act, all persons who acquire Timorese citizenship may request that their underage children (i.e. under 17 years of age117) acquire Timorese citizenship as well. The extension of Timorese citizenship to underage children is not automatic. It has to be expressly requested by the parents. Less clear, however, is whether the Public Prosecutor may oppose the acquisition and whether the government has any margin of appreciation to deny requests made under Article 9. The wording of Article 9 – by using the verb ‘may’ (pode) – suggests that children of Timorese citizens by acquisition are not entitled by law to acquire Timorese citizenship and that therefore Timorese authorities can oppose or deny the parents’ request. Also, Article 16 of the Nationality Act, which lists grounds for opposing the acquisition of Timorese citizenship, applies generally to all cases of acquisition, without excluding acquisition under Article 9.118 It may be argued that most of the grounds listed in Article 16 are hardly applicable to individuals under 17 years of age (e.g. conviction for crime punishable with a prison sentence of over eight years; unauthorised exercise of sovereign functions in favour of a foreign State), but there is, at least, the possibility that the child has no effective ties with the Timorese society, in which case Article 16 (a) could be invoked by the Public Prosecutor to oppose the acquisition of Timorese citizenship. Nevertheless, a more favourable interpretation is allowed by the wording of Article 8 (1) of the Nationality Regulation, which reads: ‘If any of the parents who acquired Timorese citizenship wants that his or her underage children also acquire Timorese citizenship, they must declare their wish’. The only requirement added by Article 8 (2) of the Nationality Regulation is that the declaration made by the parents includes the identification of the registration of the parents’ acquisition of Timorese citizenship. This suggests that the 117 That 17 years is the age of majority in Timor-Leste could be inferred from the constitutional provision on the exercise of political rights [Article 47 (1) of the Constitution] and was made explicit by Article 118 of the Timorese Civil Code, which was approved by Law no. 10/2011, of 14 September 2011, available at http://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/?q=node/803 [29.01.2017]. 118 This argument is not particularly strong, however, since Article 16 does not exclude Article 10 (acquisition by adoption) either and, as we will see, there is little doubt that the Public Prosecutor cannot oppose the acquisition of citizenship under this Article. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/7 - © 2017 Author 29