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31 Brit. Y.B. Int'l L. 458 (1954)
Nationality in C Class Mandates

handle is hein.journals/byrint31 and id is 464 raw text is: 458 NOTES local remedies is not applicable and cannot support a preliminary objection or defence to a claim; 2. Where the act complained of is a breach of the local law but not of international law, the rule operates as a substantive bar to any international claim: and no such claim arises until a denial of justice can be shown; 3. Where the act complained of is a breach both of the local law and of an inter- national agreement or customary international law, the rule of the exhaustion of local remedies operates as a procedural bar to an international claim for damages but is not a bar to a claim for a declaratory judgment by an international tribunal that there has been a breach of international law; 4. In Cases 2 and 3 the burden of proof rests upon the respondent State, if it relies upon the rule as a preliminary objection or defence, to show that local remedies were available; if it discharges this burden, the burden of proof falls on the claimant State to show that the local remedies indicated were not in the circum- stances of the case effective. J. E. S. FAWCETT NATIONALITY IN 'C' CLASS MANDATES IN Wong Man On v. The Commonwealth and Others,' the High Court of Australia considered the effect of belligerent occupation by the forces of the Crown on the status of the inhabitants of enemy territory, and also the question of the nationality of in- habitants of 'C' class Mandates. The case is of interest in that the Court quoted and substantially relied on the opinions of several textbook writers on the issue whether 'C' class Mandates became subject to the sovereignty of the mandatory power. The action was brought against the Commonwealth, a Minister of State administering the War-Time Refugees Removal Act, 1949, and an officer in the Minister's Department. The Act in question authorized the expulsion from the Commonwealth of aliens who entered Australia during the period of hostilities. The Minister was required to certify that a person was one of the class contemplated by the legislation, and his certificate was stated to be prima facie evidence of the fact so certified. The Minister certified that the plaintiff was one of the class contemplated, and signed an order for his depor- tation. The plaintiff pleaded that he was not an alien, and alleged trespass to his person. The issue turned on the question whether the plaintiff, who was born in 1916 in New Guinea, was a British subject by birth, or had become one in virtue of the Man- date over that territory which came into operation in 1921. The Commonwealth legis- lation on nationality designates as a British subject 'any person born within his Majesty's dominion~s and allegiance', and this repeats the relevant provisions of the Imperial legislation in operation in 1916. In September 1914 Australian forces had occupied New Guinea, and on the i2th of that month the Officer Commanding issued a proclamation which recited that the Island of New Britain had been militarily oc- cupied, and the authority of the German Government had ceased to exist therein. A formal surrender was accepted, and the instrument recited that during the occupation the local law should remain in force as far as consistent with the military situation. Until 9 May 1921 the territory remained subject to the British Military Administration. The New Guinea Act, 1920-1935, which came into force on that date, recited that a Mandate was to be issued to the Commonwealth in respect of German New Guinea, S(1952), 86 C.L.R. 125.

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