Decolonization and the International Law of Succession: Between Regime Exhaustion and Paradigmatic Inconclusiveness

Abstract

The international law of succession has always been portrayed as being in a state of crisis. Whilst this crisis was long one of formal existence, the entering into force of the 1978 Vienna Convention international law of State succession in respect of treaties did not put an end to the—more profound—paradigmatic crisis at the heart of the international law of succession. Against this backdrop, this essay starts by recalling the two conflict objectives that were simultaneously pursued during the codification of the international law of State succession in respect of treaties (Section II). It then outlines how the codification process could hardly distance itself from the fresh reality (and the emotions) of decolonization, the latter eventually hovering over all the debates unfolding at that time (Section III). It goes on to describe the rules specifically designed to address questions of succession in connection with the decolonization process (Section IV). This essay subsequently recalls how the implosion of the USSR and Yugoslavia brought about a repudiation of the international law of State succession in respect of treaties, and especially those rules pertaining to states which emerged from the decolonization process (Section V). The final section argues that the move away from the international law of succession regarding former colonies epitomizes the illusion behind the entire law of succession according to which the birth and death of States can be formally regulated by rules estranged from the identity struggles unfolding in succession crisis (Section VI).