Theories and Practice of State Succession to Bilateral Treaties: The Recent Experience of Kosovo

Abstract

This article observes the most recent practice of state succession to treaties. It does so with an almost exclusive emphasis on the case of Kosovo. Given the absence of any significant activity in the sphere of multilateral treaties due to its lack of membership in such key multilateral regimes as the United Nations, the analysis is essentially confined to the sphere of bilateral treaties. Beyond the provision of some key background that enlightens the process that led to Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence, the article describes the path followed with regard to the undertaking by Kosovo of the responsibility to comply with international arrangements concluded by the predecessor entities and the reaction thereto by other interested or relevant States. A new or somewhat neglected dimension of the role of succession to old, or conclusion of new, treaties in the process of state formation of consolidation is also briefly addressed. A discussion and examination of international law as it relates to succession to treaties is offered, displaying the continuing contradiction that exists between State praxis and relevant conventional law. It is ultimately revealed that the existing practice in Kosovo sides with the application of the universal succession doctrine.

Keywords: International Law, State Succession, Bilateral Treaties, Declarations of Independence and International Obligations

JEL Classification: K33