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South Africa Act 1962

As Enacted Cited authorities 56 Cited in Amendments 128 Related
Vincent
JurisdictionUK Non-devolved
Citation1962 c. 23


South Africa Act, 1962

(10 & 11 Eliz. 2) CHAPTER 23

An Act to make final provision as to the operation of the law in consequence of the Union of South Africa having become a republic outside the Commonwealth.

Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

S-1 Nationality, etc.

1 Nationality, etc.

(1) In subsection (3) of section one of the British Nationality Act, 1948 (which specifies the countries whose citizens are by virtue of that citizenship British subjects or Commonwealth citizens) the reference to South Africa shall be omitted; and accordingly any person who, immediately before the commencement of this Act, was a British subject by virtue only of his citizenship of the Republic shall cease to be a British subject at the commencement of this Act.

(2) The provisions of the First Schedule to this Act shall have effect for continuing, for the benefit of citizens of the Republic who make application, or give notice of intention to make application, before the end of the year nineteen hundred and sixty-five, certain provisions of the said Act of 1948 with respect to the acquisition by registration of citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies; and in relation to an application for registration as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies made before the end of that year by a woman who is a citizen of the Republic, subsection (2) of section six of that Act shall apply as if she were a British subject.

(3) Until the end of the year nineteen hundred and sixty-five, a citizen of the Republic shall not be subject, in respect of any office, place or employment held by him at the commencement of this Act, or any qualification to act in any capacity in which he was acting at the commencement of this Act, to any disability imposed in the case of aliens by or by virtue of any of the following enactments, that is to say—

(a ) section three of the Act of Settlement;

(b ) sections four to six of the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act, 1919;

(c ) section eighty-eight of the Patents Act, 1949, or any rules made for the purposes of that section; or

(d ) any Act of the Parliament of Northern Ireland, or any regulations in force under any such Act.

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3) of this section a person who at the commencement of this Act was on leave from or otherwise temporarily absent from employment in any capacity mentioned in subsection (1) of section five of the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act, 1919 (master, etc., of British merchant ship) shall be treated as if he were employed in such employment at the commencement of this Act; and where the said subsection (3) applies to any person in respect of any office, place or employment held by him at the commencement of this Act, it shall apply to him also in respect of any office, place or employment to or in which he may be appointed or employed thereafter by way of re-engagement or transfer.

S-2 Other provisions as to existing law.

2 Other provisions as to existing law.

(1) The enactments mentioned in the Second Schedule to this Act shall continue to apply in relation to the Republic as provided by that Schedule.

(2) The provisions of the Third Schedule to this Act (being transitional provisions and savings) shall have effect with respect to the enactments referred to in that Schedule.

(3) The enactments described in the Fourth Schedule to this Act shall have effect subject to the amendments specified in the second column of that Schedule; and the enactments and instruments described in the Fifth Schedule to this Act are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

(4) Without prejudice to subsection (2) of this section, the provisions of the Interpretation Act, 1889, and any rule of law with respect to the effect or repeals shall apply in relation to any enactment which ceases to apply in relation to the Republic, or persons or things belonging thereto or connected therewith, otherwise than by virtue of the repeals effected by this section, as if it were repealed by this section to the extent that it ceases so to apply.

S-3 Interpretation etc.

3 Interpretation etc.

(1) In this Act ‘the Republic’ means the Republic of South Africa; and references to the Republic, in relation to any time before the thirty-first day of May, nineteen hundred and sixty-one, include references to the Union of South Africa.

(2) Any reference in this Act to an enactment is a reference thereto as amended, and includes a reference thereto as extended or applied, by or under any other enactment; and any such reference to any enactment which extends to the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands or any colony or other territory, includes a reference thereto as it so extends.

(3) For the purposes of section six of the Government of Ireland Act, 1920, this Act, so far as it relates to any enactment of the Parliament of Northern Ireland or any enactment which that Parliament has power to amend, shall be deemed to be an Act passed before the appointed day within the meaning of that section.

S-4 Short title and commencement.

4 Short title and commencement.

(1) This Act may be cited as the South Africa Act, 1962 .

(2) This Act shall come into operation on the thirty-first day of May, nineteen hundred and sixty-two.

S C H E D U L E S

FIRST SCHEDULE

Nationality ActTemporary continuance of certain provisions of British , 1948, Registrationwith respect to Citizenship by .

SCH-1.1

1. Subsection (1) of section six of the British Nationality Act, 1948, and subsection (2) of section three of the British Nationality Act, 1958, shall apply in relation to citizens of the Republic as they apply in relation to citizens of countries mentioned in subsection (3) of section one of the said Act of 1948; but no person shall by virtue of this paragraph be registered as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies under the said subsection (1) unless either—

a ) he makes application under that subsection before the end of the year nineteen hundred and sixty-five; or
b ) he gives notice under paragraph 2 below before the end of that year of his intention to make such an application and makes the application within five years after giving that notice
SCH-1.2

2. A notice of intention to make such an application shall be given to such person and in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations under section twenty-nine of the said Act of 1948; and such a notice may be given only by a citizen of the Republic who, at the time when the notice is given, is—

a ) ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom or in any colony or protectorate residence in which may qualify for registration under the said subsection (1); or
b ) in Crown service under Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom; or
c ) serving either under an international organisation of which Her Majesty's said Government is a member or in the employment of a society, company or body of persons established in the United Kingdom or in any such colony or protectorate
SCH-1.3

3. A person who would be entitled or qualified to be registered as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies under subsection (1) of the said section six as extended by this Schedule if he were a citizen of the Republic may, with the approval of the Secretary of State, be so registered notwithstanding that he has ceased to be such a citizen if he was such a citizen immediately before making his application or giving notice under paragraph 2 above.

SCH-1.4

4. In relation to any application for registration made under subsection (6) of section twelve of the said Act of 1948 by a citizen of the Republic, paragraph (a ) of subsection (1) of section three of the British Nationality Act, 1958 (which prescribes the time within which such applications may be made) shall have effect as if for the words ‘nineteen hundred and sixty-two’ there were substituted the words ‘nineteen hundred and sixty-five’; and for the purposes of any such application the references in the said subsection (6) to the United Kingdom and Colonies (other than references to citizenship of the United Kingdom and Colonies) shall be construed as including references to the protectorates of Bechuanaland and Swaziland.

SCH-1.5

5. No person shall, by virtue of this Schedule, be entitled to be registered as a citizen of the United Kingdom and Colonies if a deportation order, or a recommendation for the making of a deportation order, is in force in respect of him under any Order in Council made in pursuance of the Aliens Restriction Act, 1914; but the Secretary of State may, if he thinks fit, register as such a citizen any person who would be entitled or qualified to be so registered but for this paragraph.

SCH-1.6

6. In relation to any application for registration made before the end of the year nineteen hundred and sixty-five, the following provisions of the British Nationality Act, 1948, that is to say subsection (2) of section eight, subsection (7) of section twelve and section twenty-six, shall have effect as if—

a ) references to any country mentioned in subsection (3) of section one of that Act included references to the Republic and
b ) references to the High Commissioner for Her Majesty's government in the United Kingdom included references to Her Majesty's Ambassador for the United Kingdom to the Republic or the person appointed to act as charg d'affaires during the absence or incapacity of such an Ambassador
SCH-1.7

7. This Schedule shall be construed as one with the British Nationality Act,...

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