The Foreign Compensation (Romania) Order 1976

PART I CITATION, COMMENCEMENT AND INTERPRETATION

1.  This Order may be cited as the Foreign Compensation (Romania) Order 1976 and shall come into operation on 1st November 1976.

2.—(1) The Interpretation Act 1889 shall apply for the interpretation of this Order as it applies for the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.

(2) In this Order:—

“Bond” means a bond or other document of title in respect of a loan or obligation issued or guaranteed before 15th September 1947 by the Romanian Government or by any other public authority in Romania.

“Debt” means a sum due or owing, or a claim for unliquidated damages, or a sum deposited in a bank in Romania but not transferred, in respect of—

(a)

the Board of Trade guarantee, under an agreement of 12th July 1939, of Kingdom of Roumania 5 per cent. Guaranteed Sterling Bonds 1939/1959,

(b)

a contract for the sale of goods whether executed or not or a bill of exchange given for the discharge of obligations under any such contract,

(c)

the servicing, preservation, transport, insuring or advertising of goods, whether or not the goods are the subject of any such contract as aforesaid,

(d)

an agency contract, other than one relating to a contract of insurance or to a treaty or contract of reinsurance,

(e)

training, professional or agency charges or disbursements,

(f)

a contract for the payment of royalties or for the manufacture of goods under licence,

(g)

shipping or transport services,

(h)

a judgement debt,

(i)

an advance, loan, acceptance credit, or other similar facility, or

(j)

vehicles owned by Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom which were despatched to Romania in 1939 and subsequently sequestrated by the Romanian Government.

“Fair Prices Claim” means a claim arising in connection with the prices paid by the Romanian Government for goods delivered by that Government on account of reparations in accordance with the Treaty of Peace with Romania and identified in a Note from Her Majesty's Legation to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that Government of 9th September 1950.

“Material time” means any time or date at which it is material for the purposes of this Order to determine whether or not a person is a United Kingdom national.

“Predecessor in title” means, subject to Article 13 of this Order, any person from whom, whether directly or indirectly, a person making application under this Order (including a trustee) has succeeded, whether by assignment or otherwise, to the property, right, interest or claim to which the application relates.

“Romanian national” means—

(a)

any individual possessing Romanian citizenship;

(b)

any corporation, firm or association incorporated or constituted under Romanian law.

“Rules of the Commission” means rules made by the Commission with the approval of the Lord Chancellor under section 4(2) of the Act of 1950 regulating the procedure of the Commission in determining applications made under this Order.

“Scheduled claimant” means a person mentioned in the Schedule to this Order.

“Trustee” includes a personal representative of a deceased person or a nominee; and “beneficiary” shall have a corresponding meaning.

“United Kingdom national” means—

(a)

any individual who was at the material time, or who as regards any material time prior to 1st January 1949 would have been had the British Nationality Act 1948 and the British Protectorates, Protected States and Protected Persons Order in Council 1949(1) been in force at that time, a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies, a British subject by virtue of section 2, 13 or 16 of that Act or the British Nationality Act 1965, or a British protected person within the meaning of the said Act of 1948;

provided that, as regards any material time prior to 16th May 1948, the expression “British protected person” shall be deemed to include a person who was at that time a Palestinian citizen under the Palestinian Citizenship Orders 1925 to 1942(2);

(b)

any individual who as regards any material time after 31st December 1949 was a citizen of Southern Rhodesia or a citizen of Rhodesia and Nyasaland;

(c)

any individual who as regards any material time after 31st October 1957 and prior to 17th September 1963 was a citizen of Singapore;

(d)

any corporation, firm or association incorporated or constituted under the laws in force in the United Kingdom or in any territory for whose international relations Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom were, at the material time, responsible.

“United Nations” means France and any Power which on 15th September 1947 was a member of the United Nations and whose diplomatic relations with Romania were broken off during the war.

(1)

(1949 I, p. 522).

(2)

S.R. & O. 1925/777, 1931/671, 1939/863, 1941/1121, 1942/1177 (1925 p. 474; 1931 p. 467; 1939 II, p. 1658; 1941 I, p. 356; 1942 I, p. 216).