CONFIDENTIAL
13. There may be persons who will not have acquired the new form of
British nationality before 1 July 1997, and who may therefore on
that date be rendered stateless by the loss of their BDTC status. The Bill should enable the Order in Council to provide that anyone in this situation should on that date automatically acquire such form or forms of British nationality as may be specified in the
Order in Council. This is likely to be British Overseas citizenship, but it might conceivably be British subject status and we wish to leave the option open. Whichever it is we contemplate including provision in the Order in Council to the effect that they will lose the status on acquiring any other citizenship or nationality (as is the case with most British subjects under Part IV
of the 1981 Act see section 35).
14.
We also intend that the children born after 30 June 1997 to
persons having at the time of the birth the new form of British
nationality mentioned in paragraph 10 above or the form of British nationality specified for the purposes of paragraph 13 will automatically acquire at birth whatever form of nationality is specified for the purposes of paragraph 13, if they would otherwise be stateless; but as in paragraph 13 cases they will lose it on acquiring another citizenship or nationality. The Bill should enable the Order in Council to provide accordingly.
A summary of the matters which will need to be dealt with in the Order in Council is attached at Paper C.
15.
Modification of Laws
16.
When a dependent territory becomes independent it is customary for the Independence Bill to provide for the continuation, as the law of the newly independent state, of all UK laws which previously applied in the colony: see e.g. Section 3 of the Belize Act 1981. In the same Act Schedule 1 enabled the legislature of the independent Belize to repeal or amend those laws, free from the restraints of the Colonial Laws Validity Act 1865, and to legislate with extra-territorial effect. Schedule 2 made consequential amendments not affecting the law of Belize, to various UK statutes.
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