Overview

Although the recognition of States is a common occurrence in international relations and retains a central position in discussions of international law, its nature and legal effects have remained controversial well into the twenty-first century. While some believe that recognition plays a fundamental role in the creation of statehood, others deny recognition any legal value. Regardless, debates surrounding any case where statehood is disputed will sooner or later turn to the matter of recognition, or lack thereof, by other States. This book challenges the widespread views of statehood as an absolute or empirical fact and of recognition as merely declaratory in the creation of States as the primary and original persons of international law. Drawing upon a comparative analysis of contested States ranging from Palestine and Kosovo to Somaliland and Eastern Ukraine, this book seeks to ascertain the normative value and the effects of the act of recognition in various situations, distinguishing between: cases where statehood may be inferred from applicable rules of international law, cases where statehood could only be explained by recognition, and cases where the establishment of a State is prevented by international legal norms. In addition to discussing a range of issues related to recognition, this book provides an up-to-date overview of the history of recognition, the positions of various governments, and a broad, critical summary of domestic and international jurisprudence.

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9780198905653

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Dr Kilibarda has succeeded, with uncommon brilliance, in producing another treatise on age-old questions of recognition and statehood, yet a one that strikes us as so different, original, fine, and innovative. What makes it so powerful is the tight counterpoint, set in a dense and flawless analytical style, through which it lays out its key messages. Recasting statehood as a multitude of legal relations sometimes arising from recognition and sometimes from objective norms of international law, the work acknowledges the relativism in which the act remains embedded, reflecting the spirit of the international legal order as a whole. A new mixed theory of great subtlety and legal power thus emerges before the eyes of the reader. * Professor Robert Kolb, University of Geneva *

Author Information

Pavle Kilibarda is a researcher at the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva. He holds a PhD in Law from the University of Geneva, an LLM from the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, and a BA in International Relations from the University of Belgrade. He is currently engaged with the University of Geneva Counter-Terror Pro LegEm project, which is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Previously, he has worked at the Geneva Academy, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, and has taught international law for the universities of Boston and Santa Clara.

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