RIGHTS AND DUTIES ARISING OUT OF STATE SUCCESSION

THIS PROJECT WORK HAS BEEN SUBMITTED FOR THE PARTIAL FULFILMENT
OF THE PROJECT WORK ASSIGNED IN PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW.

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

DR. P.P. RAO PRAGYA SWARAJ
ROLL NO-2623
B.B.A.,L.LB.(HONS.)

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, PATNA-1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
 DECLARATION

I, Pragya Swaraj, hereby declare that the project work entitled “RIGHTS AND DUTIES
ARISING OUT OF STATE SUCCESSION” submitted to the Chanakya National Law
University, is a record of an original work done by me under the guidance of Dr. P.P. RAO
and this project work is submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the
degree of BBA LL.B. (Hons.). The results embodied in this project have not been submitted
to any other University or Institute for the award of any degree or diploma.

Pragya Swaraj

Roll no- 2623

B.B.A., L.LB(HONS.)

4TH SEMESTER

SESSION- 2021-2026.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I Pragya Swaraj, do hereby declare that this project is my original work. This project has been
completed in the guidance of Dr. P.P.Rao, Professor of Public International Law.

I have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not have been possible without the kind
support and help of many individuals and organizations. I would since like to extend my
thanks to all of them.

At the outset, I owe the present accomplishment of our project to our CNLU librarians, who
helped me immensely with materials throughout the project. I would also like to extend my
gratitude towards my family members.

I would also like to thank my friends and all those unseen hands that helped me out at every
stage of my project.

THANK YOU,

Pragya Swaraj

Roll no- 2623

B.B.A., L.LB(HONS.)

4TH SEMESTER

SESSION- 2021-2026.
 INTRODUCTION

State succession occurs when there is a definitive replacement of one state by another in
respect of sovereignty over a given territory, that is, a replacement in conformity with
international law.1 The political events concerned include dismemberment of an existing
state, secession or separation of part of a state, decolonization, merger of existing states into a
new state, and cession or annexation of state territory. Succession is predicated upon the
permanent displacement of sovereign power, and thus temporary changes resulting from
belligerent occupation, agency, or grants of exclusive possession of territory by treaty are
excluded.

When the sovereignty of one state replaces that of another, a number of legal problems arise.
Is the successor state bound by all or any of the treaties of the predecessor? Do the
inhabitants of the territory concerned automatically become nationals of the successor? Is the
successor state affected by international claims involving the predecessor, by the
predecessor’s national debt and its other obligations under the legal system now supplanted?
It is important to note that the phrase ‘state succession’ is employed to describe an area, a
source of problems: it does not connote any overriding principle, or even a presumption, that
a transmission or succession of legal rights and duties occurs in a given case. The phrase
‘state succession’ is well established, (p. 424) despite the misleading municipal law analogy
of continuity of legal personality in an individual’s general property, passing as an
inheritance, involving a complete or ‘universal succession’. Generally speaking the only
event of ‘universal succession’ in international law is state continuity—life rather than death2.

State succession is an area of uncertainty and controversy. Much of the practice is equivocal
and could be explained on the basis of special agreement or of rules distinct from the concept
of legal succession. Indeed, it is possible to take the view that not many settled rules have yet
emerged.

Nonetheless, the ILC has sought to codify the law on state succession leading to two separate
conventions; the 1978 Vienna Convention on the Succession of States in Respect of
Treaties3 and the 1983 Vienna Convention on the Succession of States in Respect of Property
Archives and Debts.4 Both were criticized for departing from established international
1
https://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/insu.htm Last accessed on 28 March, 2023 22: 59 pm.
2
https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1756&context=jil (pdf) “Rights and
Obligations of Successor States: An Alternative Theory”(1967).
law, they have attracted a limited number of ratifications (the 1978 Convention only entered
into force in 1996 and has 22 parties; the 1983 Convention is not yet in force).6 The
territorial transformations of the last two decades however, revealed a tendency to rely on
them or at least some of their provisions to resolve controversial questions, for want of any
better articulation of the legal principles involved