This chapter begins with a discussion of the ‘declaratory’ and ‘constitutive’ views of recognition. According to the declaratory view, the legal effects of recognition are limited: recognition is a declaration or acknowledgement of an existing state of law and fact, legal personality having been conferred previously by operation of law. The declaratory theory of recognition is opposed to the constitutive view, according to which the political act of recognition is a precondition of the existence of legal rights: in its extreme form this implies that the very personality of a state depends on the political decision of other states. Discussion then turns to the distinction between recognition of states and recognition of governments, collective non-recognition and sanctions, and issues of recognition before national courts.
Chapter
6. Recognition of states and governments
Chapter
5. Personality, statehood, and recognition
This chapter examines the meaning of international legal personality and the range of actors that possess such personality; namely, States, international organizations, individuals, multinational corporations, and several other non-State actors. Given the centrality of States, the criteria for statehood are analysed, and both traditional and contemporary criteria are discussed. Article 1 of the 1933 Montevideo Convention is used for assessment of whether an entity satisfies these criteria, which include: permanent population, a defined territory, government, capacity to enter into foreign relations, and the relevance of human rights. Competing theories regarding the role of recognition by third States as an element of statehood are also considered. Equally, the rights and duties of non-State actors are analysed in terms of capacity conferred upon them under international law.
