International law and statehood

Sovereignty is a concept of international law in which a sovereign state exercises independent control over a particular geographic area. The modern concept of 'statehood' has been memorialized in the 'Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States,' of 1933.

The Montevideo Convention defines a state as (1) having a permanent population, (2) a defined geographical territory, (3) a government, and (4) the power to enter into relations with other sovereign states. Additionally, state recognition is an essential and highly political factor in the creation of a nation.

Does the state organise international law?

Insofar as they tend toward the latter – or the domestic state even serves as the comparator for the international system – then ideas of the state fundamentally organise international law in a second sense.

How is state recognition influenced by international law?

Notably, state recognition has been widely studied from the international law perspective, which usually offers a narrow and dogmatic understanding of statehood and recognition and is deeply influenced by state policies and legal and institutional practices ( Chen, 1951; Crawford, 2007; Lauterpacht, 1947; Raič, 2002; Talmon, 1998 ).

What are the attributes of statehood under international law?

The attributes of statehood under international law have traditionally been considered the following:

territory; population; recognition by other states.
See Ian Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law 83-85 (5th ed., Oxford, 1998); Hans Kelsen, Principles of International Law 206-207 (1952).

What is the legal definition of statehood?

Although there is no generally accepted legal definition of statehood, the best-known formulation is found in the 1933 Montevideo Convention on Rights and Duties of States:

defined territory

permanent population

government and capacity to enter into relations with other states.

Does international law regulate statehood?

The role played by international law in the regulation of statehood is still disputed

Crawford 2006 and Marek 1955 argue that it is regulated by international law, albeit in a specific way

According to Quéneudec 2008, international law would even regulate the designation and symbols of the state

What are the attributes of statehood under international law?

The attributes of statehood under international law have traditionally been considered the following: territory; population; recognition by other states

See Ian Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law 83-85 (5th ed

, Oxford, 1998); Hans Kelsen, Principles of International Law 206-207 (1952)

What is a state in international law?

Although the state as territory–people–government is international law’s main device for representing the world, the intersection of this definition with other doctrines of international law complicates the picture

Movement to make the United States capital a state

The District of Columbia statehood movement is a political movement that advocates making the District of Columbia a U.S. state, to provide the residents of the District of Columbia with voting representation in the Congress and complete control over local affairs.