Report on Citizenship Law: East Timor (Timor-Leste) Per Article 4 of the Timorese Nationality Act, the attribution, acquisition, loss and reacquisition of Timorese citizenship are governed by the law in force at the time when the acts and facts which originate those effects take place. Since birth is the fact that originates the attribution of Timorese citizenship, one could wonder whether this means that only individuals born after the entry into force of the Timorese Constitution, on 20 May 2002, are Timorese citizens by birth. The Constitution includes no transitory provisions on the subject. Also, contrary to its Cape Verdean counterpart [Article 3], the Timorese Nationality Act does not expressly extend the provisions pertaining to the attribution of citizenship by birth to individuals born before its entry into force. The practice of the Timorese authorities, however, has been to recognise as Timorese citizens by birth individuals who fall under Article 3 (2) and (3) of the Constitution, irrespective of time of birth. Per Article 5 of the Timorese Nationality Act, the attribution of Timorese citizenship produces effects since birth but102 any retroactive effects do not hinder the validity of legal relations previously established on the basis of a different citizenship. There is no provision on the effects of decisions granting Timorese citizenship by filiation, adoption, marriage or naturalisation, but it is to be deduced a contrario from Article 5 that these will not have retroactive effects. Less clear is whether those adopted by a Timorese before the entry into force of Law no. 9/2002 are to be entitled to Timorese citizenship under Article 10. The effects of the loss of Timorese citizenship are produced from the date of the acts or facts that originate it (Article 6). As for the authorities with competence in matters of citizenship, Article 7 of the Timorese Nationality Act prescribes that the Minister of Justice is competent to assess and decide all questions pertaining to the attribution, acquisition, loss and reacquisition of citizenship, when that competence does not belong to the National Parliament, which is only the case with the naturalisation for high and relevant services to the country (Article 13). However, decisions on reacquisition of citizenship under Article 15 (3) are to be decided by the Ministry of Justice. Besides, the Minister of Justice is not the sole authority competent to clarify the doubts arising in the interpretation and application of the Nationality Act, since Article 32 makes it incumbent upon the whole government to render that task. The Supreme Court of Justice – and, until its installation, the Court of Appeal – is competent to decide the appeals against decisions pertaining to the attribution, acquisition, loss and reacquisition of citizenship [Article 17 (1) and (3) and Article 28]. Also, the Registrar of the Central Registry Office is competent to issue opinions on all questions of citizenship, namely those submitted by consular agents in case of uncertainty about the Timorese citizenship of a person who requests a consular registration (Article 25), and may issue ‘citizenship certificates’ (certificados de nacionalidade timorense) per request, even in the absence of a registration (Article 26). If a person is a citizen of more than one State, Articles 29 and 30 apply to determine which citizenship is to prevail. When one of the competing citizenships is Timorese citizenship, only this citizenship status is relevant vis-à-vis the Timorese authorities. This is the standard approach to conflicts between national and foreign citizenships.103 However, the wording of Article 29 leaves much to be desired in terms of clarity, since it uses the word ‘attributed’ which is specific to citizenship by birth. Per Article 29, any other citizenship attributed to Timorese citizens will not be recognised nor be allowed to produce effects in the Timorese legal system. It does not seem to make sense to restrict the scope of this provision to 102 Due to poor drafting style, the wording of the provision is ‘and’ instead of ‘but’, which does not convey the caveat intended by the legislator in safeguarding the validity of prior legal relations. 103 Consider e.g. Article 27 of the Portuguese Nationality Act, which reads: ‘If someone has two or more citizenships and one of those is Portuguese, only this citizenship is relevant vis-à-vis Portuguese law’. RSCAS/GLOBALCIT-CR 2017/7 - © 2017 Author 23