Human Rights Treaties and the Law of State Succession in the Event of Secession

Abstract

International practice indicates a tendency that the obligations under human rights treaties continue under the law of State succession. The successor State is thus bound to respect the rights previously granted under a human rights treaty to the inhabitants of a territory it has assumed responsibility for. However, the successor State is not automatically party to the human rights treaty which its predecessor was a party to. As such, the continuity of human rights obligations has not occurred ipso iure. Yet, States have acquiesced to the jurisprudence of the Human Rights Committee and accepted their human rights obligations retroactively upon the ratification of the human rights treaties.