## Facts

- Florence Strunsky was born in New York City on April 7, 1909, acquiring U.S. nationality at birth.
- On December 21, 1933, she married Salvatore Mergé, an Italian national, and acquired Italian nationality by operation of Italian law.
- She lived in Italy with her husband until 1937, then accompanied him to Tokyo and traveled on an Italian passport issued for diplomatic/foreign-post families.
- In 1940, she registered as a U.S. national at the American Consulate General in Tokyo.
- After World War II hostilities, she declined repatriation to the United States arranged by U.S. military authorities, choosing to remain with her husband.
- In late 1946, she received a U.S. passport limited to travel to the United States, stayed there for several months, then returned to Italy and continued residing there.
- The United States presented a claim on her behalf seeking compensation under Article 78 of the 1947 Treaty of Peace with Italy for war-related loss of a grand piano and other personal property located in Frascati, Italy.
- Italy rejected the claim on the ground that she was an Italian national by marriage.
- The dispute was submitted to the Italian–United States Conciliation Commission, which limited proceedings to the preliminary question of dual nationality, reserving other questions.

## Issues

1. Whether a claim under Article 78 of the 1947 Treaty of Peace with Italy may be brought against Italy on behalf of a person who holds both U.S. and Italian nationality.
2. If the Treaty is silent on dual nationality, whether general international law requires applying a dominant or effective nationality test to determine admissibility.
3. Whether, under the dominant/effective nationality test, Mrs. Mergé’s nationality for purposes of the claim was predominantly U.S. or Italian.

## Decision

- The Commission treated the Treaty’s silence on dual nationality as requiring recourse to general principles of international law.
- The Commission held that, as a matter of general international law, a State ordinarily may not assert an international claim against another State on behalf of a person who is also a national of the respondent State, unless the claimant State’s nationality is dominant or effective.
- Applying a dominant/effective nationality test, the Commission concluded Mrs. Mergé’s dominant nationality at the relevant time was Italian.
- The Commission rejected the claim as inadmissible insofar as it was asserted by the United States against Italy on her behalf.

## Legal Principles

- When a treaty-based claims regime is silent on dual nationality, the tribunal may apply general international law principles to determine admissibility.
- In dual-nationality cases involving claims against one State of nationality, admissibility depends on whether the claimant State’s nationality is dominant or effective.
- Dominant/effective nationality is assessed using factual connecting factors, including habitual residence, center of interests, family ties, and participation in public life, indicating a closer and more real connection to one State.
- Treaty provisions alleged to depart from general international law are interpreted restrictively absent clear language showing an intent to override those rules.

## Conclusion

The Commission held that claims against a State on behalf of a dual national require proof that the claimant State’s nationality is dominant or effective; because Mrs. Mergé’s dominant nationality was Italian, the United States could not pursue her Article 78 claim against Italy.


Mergé Claim (U.S. v. It.), 14 R.I.A.A. 236 (It.–U.S. Conciliation Comm’n 1955)