THE CONCEPT OF STATE RECOGNITION UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

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Department of Law

ABSTRACT
State recognition is one of the oldest practice in international relations, and one of the most vexed concepts in international law since the middle ages, political communities have interacted with each other as sovereign, territorial states under an accepted system of rules. Determining which entity is to be recognized as state subject to these rules has hence been a basic component of international relations. As such, it is one of the most common discussed topics in the international law literatures. The main aim of this dissertation is to examine the legal framework for the practice of the concept of state recognition in international law in relation to the existing provisions of relevant international and regional constitutive instruments on one hand and the activities of the international community on the other hand. In view of this the main objective of this dissertation is to identify the adequacy or otherwise of the existing international regimes on the practice of state recognition (if any) and subsequently to proffer solutions to the lacunas identified so as to bring about an efficient practice in accordance with the provisions of the constitutive instruments. In the cause of this research the findings of the researcher is that lack of uniform criteria for the practice of state recognition among the international regimes, for example, the provisions of the U.N., the Montevideo Convention and E.U. are at variance. Therefore, in the light of this, the researcher concluded by recommending that there should be a singular and uniformly accepted mode of practice of state recognition so as to foster international cooperation which will go along way to reduce controversies in international jurisprudence. Doctrinal method of acquiring data has been adopted, using primary and secondary sources of information such as relevant text materials, statutes (including international instruments), judicial authorities, articles in journal publications and internet materials.