Claimant states that the Egyptian Tax Administration collected taxes on professional fees earned by claimant for services performed in the United States, which was unlawful under Egyptian law.

Claimant asserts that it concluded an agreement on August 2, 1954, with the Bank Misr for services relating to architectural planning and development of the ... Hotel. All services were performed by claimant in the United States and engineers hired separately by the Bank Misr in Cairo.

On May 13, 1961, Misr . . . withheld the equivalent of $20,703.01 from professional fees due claimant and paid the sum to the Egyptian Tax Administration.

Claimant states that it has been a national of the United States since its incorporation in California [in] . . . 1955.

Claimant states that as a result of the taking of the unlawful payment of Egyptian taxes, it has sustained loss in the amount of Egyptian pounds 7,354.975 (U.S. $21,035.14).

In support of this claim, claimant has submitted various items of evidence and proof, including the following:

*

(e) Judgment of the Court of Appeal of Cairo which held that [subject] fees... were not subject to payment of Egyptian professional taxes.

CERTIFICATION OF LOSS

The Department finds, on the basis of evidence of record, that claimant sustained a loss in the amount of Egyptian pounds 7,354.075 (U.S. $21,035.14).

Dept. of State File L/C.

The Department of State determined in Claim Number A9, Decision Number 11, that the claimant was not entitled to compensation for certain agricultural properties in Egypt expropriated in 1952, prior to the claimant's becoming a national of the United States, but that the claimant was entitled to compensation for the expropriation of other agricultural property in Egypt expropriated after the claimant became a U.S. national. The Department followed and applied the international law principle of continuous nationality, and the doctrine of dominance and effective nationality in case of dual nationality. Excerpts of the final decision entered on April 14, 1977, by Deputy Legal Adviser Stephen M. Schwebel follow:

Claimant states that the Egyptian Government nationalized, sequestrated and expropriated her agricultural properties as follows:

Item One: (199 feddans 2 kirats 8 sahms agricultural land). Pursuant to Agrarian Reform Law No. 178 of 1952, the Agrarian

Reform Authority expropriated 199 feddans, 2 kirats and 8 sahms of agricultural land.

Item Two: (100 feddans agricultural land). Pursuant to Agrarian Reform Law No. 127 of 1961, the Agrarian Reform Authority expropriated 100 feddans of agricultural land.

Item Three: (100 feddans of agricultural land). Pursuant to Agrarian Reform Law No. 15 of 1963, the Agrarian Reform Authority expropriated 100 feddans of agricultural land.

Claimant states that she was formerly an Egyptian national, and has been a national of the United States since her naturalization before the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, New York, [in] ... 1953, and that she was issued Naturalization Certificate..

Concerning Item One (199 feddans 2 kirats 8 sahms). Claimant asserts that pursuant to Agrarian Reform Law No. 178 of 1952, the Agrarian Reform Organization expropriated 199 feddans 2 kirats and 8 sahms of her agricultural land, thereby reducing her holdings to 200 feddans. Article 1 of Law No. 178 of 1952, as amended, provides, inter alia:

No person may possess more than 200 feddans of agricultural land. Fallow and desert lands owned by any person are considered as agricultural lands.

At the time of the expropriation of the land, bonds in the value of Egyptian pounds 43,930 bearing interest at 3% and maturing in 1982 were issued to claimant as payment. Claimant asserts that no payment of principal or interest had been received on the bonds since 1954 and that they have been subsequently declared without value.

The Egyptian Government stated that at the time of expropriation of the land in question the claimant was an Egyptian national. It further asserted that claimant's nationality was still in dispute in 1975 due to her conflicting claims to Egyptian and United States citizenships at various times.

The available record shows that claimant acquired U.S. citizenship by naturalization [in]. . . 1953. Claimant does not claim that at the time of the expropriation of the land in question she was an American citizen.

Under the long-established rule of international law of continuous nationality and in United States practice, no claimant is entitled to the diplomatic protection of the state whose assistance is invoked unless such claimant was a national of that state at the time when the claim arose and continuously thereafter until the claim is presented. In effect, a claim must be a national claim not only at the time of its presentation, but also at the time when the injury or loss was sustained. (See Borchard, Diplomatic Protection of Citizens Abroad, 660 ff., 666 (1928): 2 Hyde, International Law Chiefly As Interpreted and Applied by the United States, 893 ff. (2d ed., 1945); 5 Hackworth, Digest of International Law, 802 ff (1943); 1 Whiteman, Damages in International Law, 94 ff. (1937):

8 Whiteman, Digest of International Law, 1243-1245, 1246-1247 (1967); Panevezys-Saldutiskis Railway case, Judgment 1939, P.C.I.J., Series A/B, No. 716, 16 ff.; Nottebohm case, Second Phase, Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 1955, 20-26.)

In the absence of express statutory authorization or specific provisions in a treaty or international agreement to the contrary, it has been the longstanding practice of the Department to decline to espouse claims which have not been continuously owned by United States nationals. Subsequent acquisition of United States citizenship by naturalization does not retroactively change this conclusion. The Egyptian Government has not agreed to recognize and to pay compensation for claims of persons who were not American citizens at the time of expropriation or loss of their properties in Egypt, but who later acquired United States citizenship by naturalization.

In view of the foregoing, the Department is constrained to find that the claimant is not entitled to compensation for Item One for the expropriation of her agricultural land pursuant to Law No.

178 of 1952.

Concerning Item Two (100 feddans agricultural land)

Claimant asserts that pursuant to Agrarian Reform Law No. 127 of 1961, the Agrarian Reform Organization expropriated 100 feddans of her remaining 200 feddans of agricultural land, and that no compensation was paid to her.

Article 1 of Agrarian Reform Law No. 127 of 1961 provides:

The text of article 1 of the decree with Law No. 178 of 1952 alluded to is replaced by the following text: "No person is allowed to own more than one hundred feddans of agricultural lands. Fallow and desert lands in ownership of any person are to be considered as agricultural lands. Any deeds of transfer of property which contravene these stipulations are decreed nil and cannot be registered."

The Egyptian Government stated that, according to its records, it expropriated 94 feddans 3 kirats and 8 sahms of land at the Assiut Governorate and valued at 25,240 Egyptian pounds. Payment of compensation was held up because of dispute over claimant's claims of Egyptian and United States nationality and other legal objections.

The Department finds that, at the time of expropriation of the land in question, claimant was an American citizen, and that she is entitled to compensation under the Agreement for Item Two in the amount of 25,240 Egyptian pounds.

Concerning Item Three (100 feddans agricultural land)

Claimant asserts that pursuant to Agrarian Reform Law No. 15 of 1963, the Agrarian Reform Organization expropriated the remaining 100 feddans of agricultural land, and no payment was made for such taking.

Article 1 of Agrarian Reform Law No. 15 of 1963 provides, inter alia:

Foreigners, whether physical or moral persons, are banned from owning agricultural land as well as arable, fallow and desert land within the same category in the United Arab Republic. This ban

applies to complete ownership and to ownership of the land proper or the right of utilization.

The Egyptian Government stated that, according to its records, it expropriated 97 feddans 2 kirats and 14 sahms of land at Om AlQusour locality, Markaz Manfalout, Assiut Governorate, and valued it at 26,645 Egyptian pounds. Payment of the compensation was held up because of dispute over claimant's claims of Egyptian and United States nationality, and other legal objections.

The available record shows that claimant retained a piece of land within the city of Assiut with an area of 2 feddans 21 kirats and 10 sahms.

The Department finds that, at the time of expropriation of the land in question, claimant was a United States citizen and that she is entitled to compensation under the Agreement for Item Three in the amount of 26,645 Egyptian pounds.

CERTIFICATION OF LOSS

The Department finds, on the basis of evidence of record, that claimant is not entitled to compensation for Item One, but with regard to Item Two and Item Three claimant sustained a loss in the total amount of Egyptian pounds 51,885.000 (U.S. $132,297.00).

Dept. of State File L/C.

The text of par. 4 of the Agreed Minute of the 1976 U.S.-Egyptian Claims Agreement reads as follows:

4. With regard to Article III of the referenced Agreement on the definition of "national of the United States," the Government of the United States recognized and applies the principle of international law concerning the dominant and effective nationality of dual nationals.

In Claim Number B3, Decision Number 14, the Department of State certified a loss to the wife of the estate of a deceased U.S. national in an amount equivalent to the value of the share in an Egyptian company owned by the estate of her deceased husband who became a U.S. citizen prior to the date on which the Egyptian Government nationalized the company. The widow was the sole heir of the deceased. Excerpts from the final decision entered by Deputy Legal Adviser Stephen M. Schwebel on April 14, 1977, follow:

Claimant states that she has been a national of the United States since birth in New York, New York, [in]... 1915. Claimant further states that her deceased husband.. was naturalized by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York [in]. . . 1935, and was issued Certificate No. . . .

Claimant states that as a result of the taking of her property, she sustained loss in the amount of Egyptian pounds 12,822.565 (U.S. $33,979.79).

Claimant states that [the deceased] with his three brothers and sister, became partners and founded in 1952 the... Company (hereinafter designated "the Company") in Egypt. The Egyptian Government in 1963 nationalized the company. The Assessment Committee, pursuant to the Order of the Ministry of Industries, evaluated the net worth of the company at Egyptian pounds 64,412.210 as of August 7, 1963. [The deceased] owned 18.5% of the company, approximately Egyptian pounds 11,916.220. Subsequently, the Egyptian Fiscal Administration authorized the transfer abroad to [the deceased] of Egyptian pounds 12,822.563, but this amount was blocked at the company by the Egyptian authorities.

[The deceased] died on October 28, 1972. Under the rule of international law of continuous nationality, to be eligible for compensation, the heirs, legatees and beneficiaries sharing in the estate must qualify as United States citizens. (See 8 Whiteman, Digest of International Law, 1245 (1967); Ralston, Supplement to the Law and Procedure of International Tribunals, Sec. 293a (1936); In the Matter of the Claim of Jerko Bogovich et al., Docket No. Y-1757, Final Decision of the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission No. 857, December 8, 1954, certified copy, MS. Department of State.) [The deceased] left a will dated... 1968, under which his widow... is the sole heir. She will be the sole beneficiary of this award. The will was filed for probate in . . . New York.

CERTIFICATION OF LOSS

The Department finds, on the basis of evidence of record, that claimant sustained a loss in the amount of Egyptian pounds 12.822.563 (U.S. $32,698.65).

Dept. of State File L/C.

On April 14, 1977, the Department of State certified in Claim Number B3 (1), Decision Number 15, a loss for the beneficiaries sharing in the estate of a man who died prior to the entry into force of the U.S.Egyptian Claims Agreement of 1976. His will provided that one-third of his estate should be bequeathed to his wife and two-thirds of the estate in trust for the benefit of his brothers and sister with the remainder payable to the said brothers and sister on the death of his wife. The wife died prior to the entry into force of the 1976 Agreement, leaving heirs who were not citizens of the United States and thus ineligible to receive her one-third share. At the time of the wife's death, there were six relatives with a right to the beneficial interest in the two-thirds share of the estate. Of these, only three were U.S. citizens and thus eligible to receive half of the two-thirds remainder share. Set forth below are excerpts from the final decision entered by Deputy Legal Adviser Stephen M. Schwebel: