TNAG-1125-FCO40-1400-British-Nationality-Act-1981-and-the-Dependent-Territories-1982 — Page 67

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to seek to extend the coverage in relation to people connected with Gibraltar. He said that it would be a factor for further consideration if 'as a result of the new Nationality Act Gibraltar revised the Gibraltarian Status Ordinance so as to give Gibraltarian status to all who become citizens of the British Dependent Territories by virtue of a connection with Gibraltar

and noted that this would be going one generation beyond those persons covered in the current definition.

1

4. The Gibraltar Attorney-General's drafts would introduce into Gibraltar legislation all categories who are BDTCs by virtue of a connection with Gibraltar. At Annex D we have identified 8 categories which would not be covered by the present draft Declaration. Some have been intentionally excluded in the course of our exchanges and others perhaps over-looked.

5. During Mr Hull's visit we explained that we were already badly behind-hand in finalising the new Declaration and negotiating it in EC. He promised to let us have the Gibraltar Government's views quickly, and these are contained in Gibraltar telegram number 86 of 11 October which says that, subject to the recognised overriding need to get the Declaration finalised by 1/1/83 the Gibraltar Government consider that the Declaration should cover all who will become BDTC by virtue of a connection with Gibraltar. We must now consider very urgently what action to take in view of this development.

6.

Section 5 of BNA 1981 reads

'A British Dependent Territories citizen who falls to be treated as a national of the United Kingdom for the purposes of the Community Treaties shall be entitled to be registered as a British citizen if an application is made for his registration as such a citizen.'

Ministers' commitments in Parliament in this connection did not extend beyond an assurance that the revised definition would include all those, covered by the current definition. The current draft (Annex A) fulfils that commitment and only goes further in respect of transmission in the female line. However it has to be remembered that section 5 started life as Lord Bethell's proposal to confer BC instead of BDTC on all who were CUKCS by connection with Gibraltar. As finally enacted it is the route to BC by the entitlement to registration to all (Gibraltarians) who are included in the definition of UK nationals for EC purposes. The Declaration is consequently of considerably greater significance to them than the 1972 Declaration.

Parliamentary

7. The Declaration has to surmount 2 hurdles: examination in the Scrutiny Committees (and possibly debate) and the Council of Ministers. In Parliament the main consideration will be that the Declaration should be readily defensible at a time when dissatisfaction continues to be expressed about the value of BDTC in other contexts such as the Falkland Islands and Hong Kong, and BNA 1981 is not yet in force. In EC, advice from your department and our legal advisers is that to avoid criticism the Declaration should be as close as possible in scope and form to the current Declaration, and should if possible avoid references to non-EC legal contexts. The present draft comes as near as we were able to meeting these EC considerations.

D

A

E

B

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18.