2 Statehood and Recognition

Subject(s):

Statehood, legitimacy — Relationship between international and domestic law — Jurisdiction of states, territoriality principle — Recognition of states

This chapter examines questions of statehood and recognition in relation to international law. It first considers cases dealing with the statehood criteria in relation to the contested statehood of various territorial entities before discussing questions of (non-)recognition of states and governments. It then reviews cases involving interrelated questions of secession, legitimacy, occupation/annexation, and state continuity. These cases show that certificates issued by the executive on statehood and recognition are generally conclusive for domestic courts in common law jurisdictions. They also confirm the long-established rules on implied recognition and highlight the relationship between legality and effectiveness in unlawful territorial situations. From an international law perspective, there is no uniformity in the quality of domestic courts’ decisions on statehood and recognition.