§ 112. Mr. Parkerasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why the Council of the Anglo-American Zone of Trieste has annulled the decision of the Devit-Nabrezina municipal council on the admission of Slovene-speaking persons to the municipal service, in view of the Slovene majority in the area.
§ Mr. Ernest DaviesThe resolution to which my hon. Friend no doubt refers provided that no one should be eligible for employment by the Devit-Nabrezina Commune unless he could read and write the Italian and Slovene languages fluently. I am informed that the Zone A Administrative Board, which is an organ of local government, not an Allied military government body, and is competent in this matter, ruled that this resolution was not within the competence of the Communal Council inasmuch as, contrary to existing regulations, it limited the citizen's right of access to public offices. The Board, however, declared that a provision could be accepted which stipulated that preference for communal posts should be given, other things being equal, to candidates who knew the Slovene language. The Board sent the resolution back to the Devit-Nabrezina Commune and allowed 60 days for further proposals to be made.