Whereas it is desired to free Serbia from certain obligations which she undertook by the Treaty of Berlin of 1878 to certain Powers and to substitute for them obligations to the League of Nations, and Whereas the Serb-Croat-Slovene State of its own free will desires to give to the populations of all territories included within the State, of whatever race, language or religion they may be, full guarantees that they shall continue to be governed in accordance with the principles of liberty and justice; For this purpose the High Contracting Parties have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries: THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The Honourable Frank Lyon POLK, Under-Secretary of State; General Tasker H. BLISS, Military Representative of the United HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF The Right Honourable Arthur James BALFOUR, O.M., M.P., His The Right Honourable Andrew Bonar Law, M.P., His Lord The Right Honourable Viscount MILNER, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., His The Right Honourable George Nicoll BARNES, M.P., Minister And for the DOMINION OF CANADA: The Honourable Sir Albert Edward KEMP, K.C.M.G., Minister of the Overseas Forces; for the COMMONWEALTH of AUSTRALIA: The Honourable George Foster PEARCE, Minister of Defence; for the UNION of SOUTH AFRICA: The Right Honourable Viscount MILNER, G.C.B., G.C.M.G.; for the DOMINION of NEW ZEALAND: The Honourable Sir Thomas MACKENZIE, K.C.M.G., High Commissioner for New Zealand in the United Kingdom; for INDIA: The Right Honourable Baron SINHA, K.C., Under-Secretary of THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC: Mr. Georges CLEMENCEAU, President of the Council, Minister of Mr. Stephen PICHON, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Mr. Louis-Lucien KLOTZ, Minister of Finance; Mr. André TARDIEU, Commissary General for Franco-American Mr. Jules CAMBON, Ambassador of France; HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF ITALY: The Honourable Tommaso TITTONI, Senator of the Kingdom, The Honourable Vittorio SCIALOJA, Senator of the Kingdom; The Honourable Guglielmo MARCONI, Senator of the Kingdom; HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF JAPAN: Viscount CHINDA, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of H.M. the Emperor of Japan at London; Mr. K. MATSUI, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of H.M. the Emperor of Japan at Paris; Mr. H. IJUIN, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of H.M. the Emperor of Japan at Rome; HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE SERBS, THE CROATS, Mr. Nicholas P. PACHITCH, formerly President of the Council of Mr. Ante TRUMBIČ, Minister for Foreign Affairs: Mr. Ivan ZOLGER, Doctor of Law; Who, after having exchanged their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows: The Principal Allied and Associated Powers, taking into consideration the obligations contracted under the present Treaty by the Serb-Croat-Slovene State, declare that the Serb-Croat-Slovene State is definitely discharged from the obligations undertaken in Article 35 of the Treaty of Berlin of July 13, 1878. CHAPTER I. ARTICLE 1. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State undertakes that the stipulations contained in Articles 2 to 8 of this Chapter shall be recognised as fundamental laws, and that no law, regulation or official action shall conflict or interfere with these stipulations, nor shall any law, regulation or official action prevail over them. ARTICLE 2. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State undertakes to assure full and complete protection of life and liberty to all inhabitants of the Kingdom without distinction of birth, nationality, language, race or religion. All inhabitants of the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes shall be entitled to the free exercise, whether public or private, of any creed, religion or belief, whose practices are not inconsistent with public order or public morals. ARTICLE 3. Subject to the special provisions of the Treaties mentioned below the Serb-Croat-Slovene State admits and declares to be Serb-CroatSlovene nationals ipso facto and without the requirement of any 29479 S. Doc. 348, 67-479 formality, Austrian, Hungarian or Bulgarian nationals habitually resident or possessing rights of citizenship (pertinenza, heimatsrecht) as the case may be at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty in territory which is or may be recognised as forming part of the Serb-Croat-Slovene State under the Treaties with Austria, Hungary or Bulgaria respectively, or under any Treaties which may be concluded for the purpose of completing the present settle ment. Nevertheless, the persons referred to above who are over eighteen years of age will be entitled under the conditions contained in the said Treaties to opt for any other nationality which may be open to them. Option by a husband will cover his wife and option by parents will cover their children under eighteen years of age. Persons who have exercised the above right to opt must within the succeeding twelve months transfer their place of residence to the State for which they have opted. They will be entitled to retain their immovable property in the territory of the Serb-Croat-Slovene State. They may carry with them their movable property of every description. No export duties may be imposed upon them in connection with the removal of such property. ARTICLE 4. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State admits and declares to be SerbCroat-Slovene nationals ipso facto and without the requirement of any formality persons of Austrian, Hungarian or Bulgarian nationality who were born in the said territory of parents habitually resident or possessing rights of ctizenship (pertinenza, heimatsrecht) as the case may be there, even if at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty they are not themselves habitually resident or did not possess rights of citizenship there. Nevertheless, within two years after the coming into force of the present Treaty, these persons may make a declaration before the competent Serb-Croat-Slovene authorities in the country in which they are resident, stating that they abandon Serb-Croat-Slovene nationality, and they will then cease to be considered as Serb-Croat-Slovene nationals. In this connection a declaration by a husband will cover his wife, and a declaration by parents will cover their children under eighteen years of age. ARTICLE 5. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State undertakes to put no hindrance in the way of the exercise of the right which the persons concerned have, under the Treaties concluded.or to be concluded by the Allied and Associated Powers with Austria, Bulgaria or Hungary, to choose whether or not they will acquire Serb-Croat-Slovene nationality. ARTICLE 6. All persons born in the territory of the Serb-Croat-Slovene State who are not born nationals of another State shall ipso facto become Serb-Croat-Slovene nationals. ARTICLE 7. All Serb-Croat-Slovene nationals shall be equal before the law and shall enjoy the same civil and political rights without distinction as to race, language or religion. Difference of religion, creed or confession shall not prejudice any Serb-Croat-Slovene national in matters relating to the enjoyment of civil or political rights, as for instance admission to public employments, functions and honors, or the exercise of professions and industries. No restriction shall be imposed on the free use by any Serb-CroatSlovene national of any language in private intercourse, in commerce, in religion, in the press or in publications of any kind, or at public meetings. Notwithstanding any establishment by the Serb-Croat-Slovene Government of an official language, adequate facilities shall be given to Serb-Croat-Slovene nationals of other speech than that of the official language for the use of their own language, either orally or in writing, before the courts. ARTICLE 8. Serb-Croat-Slovene nationals who belong to racial, religious or linguistic minorities shall enjoy the same treatment and security in law and in fact as the other Serb-Croat-Slovene nationals. In particular they shall have an equal right to establish, manage and control at their own expense charitable, religious and social institutions, schools and other educational establishments, with the right to use their own language and to exercise their religion freely therein. ARTICLE 9. The Serb-Croat-Slovene Government will provide in the public educational system in towns and districts in which a considerable proportion of Serb-Croat-Slovene nationals of other speech than that of the official language are resident adequate facilities for ensuring that in the primary schools the instruction shall be given to the children of such Serb-Croat-Slovene nationals through the medium of their own language. This provision shall not prevent the SerbCroat-Slovene Government from making the teaching of the official language obligatory in the said schools. In towns and districts where there is a considerable proportion of Serb-Croat-Slovene nationals belonging to racial, religious or linguistic minorities, these minorities shall be assured an equitable share in the enjoyment and application of the sums which may be provided out of public funds under the State, municipal or other budget, for educational, religious or charitable purposes. The provisions of the present Article apply only to territory transferred to Serbia or to the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes since the 1st January, 1913. ARTICLE 10. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State agrees to grant to the Musulmans in the matter of family law and personal status provisions suitable for regulating these matters in accordance with Musulman usage. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State shall take measures to assure the nomination of a Reiss-Ul-Ulema. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State undertakes to ensure protection to the mosques, cemeteries and other Musulman religious establishments. Full recognition and facilities shall be assured to Musulman pious foundations (Wakfs) and religious and charitable establishments now existing, and the Serb-Croat-Slovene Government shall not refuse any of the necessary facilities for the creation of new religious and charitable establishments guaranteed to other private establishments of this nature. ARTICLE 11. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State agrees that the stipulations in the foregoing Articles, so far as they affect persons belonging to racial, religious or linguistic minorities, constitute obligations of international concern and shall be placed under the guarantee of the League of Nations. They shall not be modified without the consent of the Council of the League of Nations. The United States, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan hereby agree not to withhold their assent from any modification in these Articles which is in due form assented to by a majority of the Council of the League of Nations. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State agrees that any Member of the Council of the League of Nations shall have the right to bring to the attention of the Council any infraction, or any danger of infraction, of any of these obligations, and that the Council may thereupon take such action and give such directions as it may deem proper and effective in the circumstances. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State further agrees that any difference of opinion as to questions of law or fact arising out of these Articles between the Serb-Croat-Slovene State and any one of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers or any other Power, a member of the Council of the League of Nations, shall be held to be a dispute of an international character under Article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State hereby consents that any such dispute shall, if the other party thereto demands, be referred to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The decision of the Permanent Court shall be final and shall have the same force and effect as an award under Article 13 of the Covenant. CHAPTER II. ARTICLE 12. Pending the conclusion of new treaties or conventions, all treaties, conventions, agreements and obligations between Serbia, on the one hand, and any of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, on the other hand, which were in force on the 1st August, 1914, or which have since been entered into, shall ipso facto be binding upon the Serb-Croat-Slovene State. ARTICLE 13. The Serb-Croat-Slovene State undertakes to make no treaty, convention or arrangement and to take no other action which will prevent her from joining in any general convention for the equitable treatment of the commerce of other States that may be concluded |