When Recognition is Declaratory

Abstract

Abstract Contemporary practice leaves little doubt that certain entities are to be regarded and treated as States under international law regardless of whether one or more States recognise them. This is not so because of effectivity, as argued under the declaratory doctrine, but because one or more rules of international law that apply to the situation require them to be treated as States. Such entities will possess legal statehood regardless of whether they possess material statehood. It is widely accepted today that membership in the United Nations acts as an imprimatur of statehood, and this may be true of some other international organisations as well. It may also be true when exercising a recognised right to external self-determination or in case of consensual separation. Chapter 9 examines several possibilities in this regard, seeking to develop a normative theory of recognition that casts the act’s legal value in light of other applicable rules that could lead to opposability.