State Succession to International Responsibility (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies)

The break-up of the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia and the unification of Germany in the 1990s marked the dramatic return to center stage in international law of the issue of State succession. This book deals with one particularly controversial aspect of State succession that until now has not received much attention: the question of State succession to international responsibility. In State Succession to International Responsibility the international lawyer and scholar Patrick Dumberry addresses the question, critical for our times, whether or not a new State may be held responsible for wrongful acts committed before its independence by the predecessor State. He also considers the reverse situation: whether or not a new State may claim reparations for wrongful acts committed before its independence by third parties and which affected the predecessor State or one of its nationals. State Succession to International Responsibility contains the most comprehensive analysis ever published of doctrine and State practice related to these questions. It is the first attempt to examine systematically State conduct, both historical and modern, with a view to identifying the factors and circumstances under which rights and obligations of a predecessor State may be transferred to a new State. Winner 2008 ASIL Certificate of Merit for High Technical Craftsmanship And Utility To Practicing Lawyers And Scholars. Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations Foreword PART I GENERAL INTRODUCTION General introduction 1. The issue addressed in this study 2. The objective of this study 3. Relevance of this study 4. Scope of this study PART II SUCCESSION OF STATES TO THE OBLIGATION TO REPAIR Chapter 1 Analysis of doctrine 1. The doctrine of non-succession 2. Challenges and criticisms of the doctrine of non-succession Chapter 2 Analysis of State practice and case law 1. Incorporation of State 2. Unification of States 3. Dissolution of State 4. Cession and transfer of territory 5. Secession 6. Creation of Newly Independent States 7. Conclusion to Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Analysis of specific issues 1. The predecessor State recognises its liability for an internationally Wrongful Act 2. A Judicial Body Finds the Predecessor State Responsible for an Internationally Wrongful Act 3. The successor State accepts to take over the responsibility for an internationally wrongful act 4. The successor State continues an internationally wrongful act committed by the predecessor State 5. An insurrectional movement commits an internationally wrongful act during its struggle to establish a new State 6. The predecessor State commits an internationally wrongful act during the struggle of an insurrectional movement to establish a new State 7. An autonomous government commits an internationally wrongful act 8. The use of the principle of unjust enrichment to resolve issues of succession to responsibility 9. The use of the principle of equity to resolve issues of succession to responsibility 10. The relevance of the territorial factor to resolve issues of succession to responsibility 11. The relevance of treaty succession to resolve issues of succession to responsibility 12. Internationally wrongful acts having a special character Chapter 4 General conclusion to Part II PART III SUCCESSION OF STATES TO THE RIGHT TO REPARATION Chapter 1 The commission of an internationally wrongful act directly affecting the predecessor State 1. Analysis of doctrine 2. Analysis of State practice and case law 3. Conclusion to Chapter 1 Chapter 2 The commission of an internationally wrongful act affecting a national of the predecessor State 1. Analysis of doctrine 2. Analysis of State practice and case law 3. Conclusion to Chapter 2 Chapter 3 General conclusion to Part III PART IV GENERAL CONCLUSION Annexes 1 to 3 Bibliography Detailed Table of Contents General Index Part I: General Introduction -- Part Ii: Succession Of States To The Obligation To Repair -- Part Iii: Succession Of States To The Right To Reparation -- Part Iv: General Conclusion. By Patrick Dumberry. This Study ... Is A Slightly Modified Version Of My Ph.d. Thesis Submitted In February 2006 To The Graduate Institute Of International Studies In Geneva, Switzerland--p. [iv] Includes Bibliographical References (p. [441]-484) And Index. Addresses the issue of State succession to international responsibility. This book examines the arguments advanced by scholars in support and against the transfer of rights and obligations from the predecessor State to the successor State. It looks at State practice and international and municipal case law for each types of succession of States