Russia as the State Continuing the Legal Personality of the USSR - An Inquiry into State Identity or Succession

Abstract

The Russian Federation is overwhelmingly considered the same subject of international law as the USSR. Moving from a re-assessment of the incidence of the elements traditionally associated with the identity of a state, this article notes that scholars have generally neglected to study what are the actual bases for this nearly universal consensus. Since the creation and the identity of states are often described as questions of fact, the author suggests that a useful addition to the debate surrounding identity of the USSR and Russia is the analysis of the nature of the actual governmental power within the USSR. This may contribute in assessing anew how the seismic changes in 1990 and 1991 affected it and, therefore, how contemporary Russia actually arose. Such interdisciplinary approach to the question of state succession could further be used to shed light on similar cases of succession.

Keywords: Russia, USSR, identity, succession, continuity, state, subject of international law, government, Communist Party, CPSU, effectivity, history of international law, elements of state,