State Succession

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State Succession

• Kevin Iraniha

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State Succession

• Definition
• Brownlee Replacement of one state by another in
  respect of sovereignty over the territory
• Vienna Convention succession of States means
  the replacement of one State by another in the
  responsibility for the international relations of
  territory
• Sources
• Convention Vienna Convention on Succession of
  States in Respect of Treaties (1978), effective
  1996
• Customary International Law

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State Succession

• Problems
• Is successor state bound by all or any treaties
  of the predecessor?
• Do the people automatically become nationals of
  the successor state?
• Is the successor state affected by claims or
  debts of predecessors?
• What happens to public and private property?
• 2 differing principles
• Roman Law (Continuation) New state continues
  the legal personality of the predecessor
• Clean Slate principle New state acquires
  sovereignty free from encumbrances created by the
  predecessor state
• Much depends on circumstances of the particular
  case as to if it will be a continuation or a
  clean slate state

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State Succession

• How?
• Dismemberment of existing state
• Soviet Union to Russian Federation (continuation)
• Yugoslavia into Croatia, Slovenia,
  Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo,
  Macedonia new independent states (Clean-slate)
• Secession withdrawing from a territory
• Belgium (1830) from Netherlands
• Bangladesh from Pakistan
• Decolonization
• India remained same legal entity as British
  India (Continuation)
• Pakistan became a totally new state (clean
  slate)
• Merger of existing States
• Yemen Arab Republic and Peoples Democratic
  Republic of Yemen Merged and became the
  Republic of Yemen (new State)
• German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Federal
  Republic of Germany (FRG) Merged and remained
  the FRG (Continuation)
• Partial cession or annexation of territory
• Hawaii

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Yugoslavia Dismemberment
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State Succession

• State Property
• Generally accepted to be ceded to the successor
  along with territory and sovereignty, unless
  cultural heritage or similar cases
• Public Law Claims
• Generally accepted that successor state has a
  right to take up fiscal claims belonging to
  former state
• Example Collecting Taxes
• Public Debt More controversial
• Continuation successor should assume public
  debts
• clean slate sometimes remains with
  predecessor state, sometimes taken up by the
  successor state.
• State Contracts (Treaties, etc.)
• Article 16 states that newly independent states
  (decolonized states) receive a "clean slate",
  whereas article 34(1) states that all other new
  states remain bound by the treaty obligations of
  the state from which they separated.

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State Succession

• Nationality
• Population follows the change of sovereignty
• Treaty of Peace with Italy (1947)
• Inhabitants of territory will become citizens of
  transferee with a right of option given
• Minorities Treaty signed at Versailles
• Poland admits and declares to be Polish Nationals
  ipso facto. New nationals can declare
  abandonment of Polish nationality within 2 yrs.
• U.N. Charter
• Change of Sovereignty doesnt give new sovereign
  the right to dispose of the population
• Human Rights Perspective
• To prevent Stateless peoples, nationality shall
  be given by new sovereign
• Problems to address by government of Successor
  State
• Alien residents in territory
• Born abroad of parents who are nationals of
  former regime
• Dual nationality with former regime

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State Succession

• Other Provisions
• Even if a clean slate state, they are still
  bound by General International Law
• Like Convention on the High Seas
• Must conform to Boundary Treaties, even if treaty
  ceases to exist
• Must conform with existing principles of Jus
  Cogens