Unilateral Non-Colonial Secession and the Criteria for Statehood in International Law
Brooklyn Journal of International Law
Volume 41 | Issue 1
Article 1
2015
Unilateral Non-Colonial Secession and the Criteria
for Statehood in International Law
Glen Anderson
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Recommended Citation
Glen Anderson, Unilateral Non-Colonial Secession and the Criteria for Statehood in International Law, 41 Brook. J. Int'l L. (2015).
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UNILATERAL NON-COLONIAL
SECESSION AND THE CRITERIA FOR
STATEHOOD IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
Dr. Glen Anderson*
INTRODUCTION.............................................................................. 3
I. SECESSION ................................................................................. 6
II. THE RIGHT TO UNC SECESSION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW ...... 8
III. UNC SECESSION AND THE CRITERIA FOR STATEHOOD BASED
ON EFFECTIVENESS..................................................................... 13
A. Permanent Population ....................................................... 14
B. Defined Territory................................................................ 15
1. Application of the Uti Possidetis Principle in the Context
of UNC Secession ................................................................ 16
C. Effective Government ......................................................... 22
1. The Compensatory Force Principle in the Colonial
Context ................................................................................ 23
a. The Republic of Congo—CC Secession ....................... 24
b. Algeria—UC Secession................................................ 26
c. Guinea-Bissau—UC Secession .................................... 27
d. Angola—CC Secession ................................................ 28
e. Conclusion.................................................................... 30
2. The Compensatory Force Principle in the Non-Colonial
Context ................................................................................ 30
a. Bangladesh—UNC Secession ..................................... 31
b. Croatia—UNC Secession ............................................ 33
* BA (Hons) BA/LLB (Hons) PhD (Macq), Lecturer in Law, University of
Newcastle, Australia.
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[Vol. 41:1
c. Kosovo—UNC Secession .............................................. 37
d. Conclusion ................................................................... 40
3. For How Long Might Ineffective Government Persist in
the Context of UNC Secession Pursuant to the Law of Selfdetermination? .................................................................... 43
C. Capacity to Enter Relations with Other States................. 44
D. Independence...................................................................... 44
1. Formal Independence ..................................................... 45
2. Actual Independence ...................................................... 45
E. Summation of Criteria for Statehood Based on
Effectiveness............................................................................ 50
IV. RECOGNITION AND UNC SECESSION: AN ADDITIONAL
CRITERION FOR STATEHOOD? ..................................................... 51
A. A Lex Specialis for Recognition in the Context of UNC
Secession?................................................................................ 51
B. Evaluation of Recognition Theories .................................. 53
C. Conclusion .......................................................................... 59
IV. UNC SECESSION AND THE CRITERIA FOR STATEHOOD BASED
ON COMPLIANCE WITH PEREMPTORY NORMS............................. 60
A. Peremptory Norms and their Applicability to Territorial
Situations................................................................................ 61
B. Precise Effect of a Breach of Peremptory Norms During the
Process of UNC Secession....................................................... 67
1. Compliance with Peremptory Norms is Not a Sine Qua
Non for UNC Secession ...................................................... 68
2. Compliance with Peremptory Norms is a Sine Qua Non
for UNC Secession .............................................................. 71
a. The TRNC—Attempted UNC Secession ..................... 72
b. Chechnya—Attempted UNC Secession....................... 75
2015]
Unilateral Non-Colonial Secession
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c. Abkhazia—Attempted UNC Secession........................ 80
d. South Ossetia—Attempted UNC Secession ................ 81
e. Transnistria—Attempted UNC Secession .................. 84
f. Scholarly Opinion ........................................................ 87
g. Conclusion ................................................................... 88
C. How is a Breach of Peremptory Norms to be Identified?.. 89
D. Are States Created by UNC Secession Held to Stricter
Account vis-à-vis Compliance with Peremptory Norms
Compared with Already Existing States?.............................. 90
E. Breach of Peremptory Norms During the Process of UNC
Secession and the Legal Obligation of Nonrecognition......... 91
CONCLUSION ............................................................................... 97
INTRODUCTION
A
n examination of history reveals that the world’s geopolitical map is in a constant state of flux. Since ancient
times, empires have come and gone and new political units
have emerged, only in turn to be superseded by others. This
evolutionary process is an ongoing one. Indicative of this is that
in the post-World War II era many states have been created
directly and indirectly by unilateral non-colonial (“UNC”) secession,1 including Bangladesh (Pakistan), Eritrea (Ethiopia),2
1. The definition of “secession” is discussed in Part I of the present article. For immediate purposes, however, it is apposite to note that secession
can be classified according to whether it is consensual, unilateral, colonial, or
non-colonial. Unilateral non-colonial (“UNC”) secession refers to the unilateral withdrawal of non-colonial territory from part of an existing state to create a new state. On the definition of secession, see generally Glen Anderson,
Secession in International Law and Relations: What Are We Talking About?,
35 LOY. L.A. INT’L & COMP. L. REV. 343–88 (2013).
2. Although Eritrea’s independence from Ethiopia was the result of a referendum in April 1993, this was preceded by a prolonged period of armed
(...truncated)
