Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T01:41:41.857Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Not such a ‘sui generis’ case after all: assessing the ICJ opinion on Kosovo

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2018

James Ker-Lindsay
James Ker-Lindsay*
Affiliation:
London School of Economics - European Institute. London, UK
*
*Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

For 60 years, the international community has limited the right of territories to gain independence without the permission of the “parent state.” Such limits were, however, challenged when Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, in February 2008. As a result, Belgrade referred the matter to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). On 22 July 2010, it came back with its long-awaited decision. Taking a narrow view of the question, the majority argued that, in general, declarations of independence, as mere statements, do not violate international law unless stated otherwise by the Security Council. Thus, Kosovo's declaration of independence cannot be considered as being wholly “unique” – as those states that supported its statehood have claimed. On the key questions of whether Kosovo's secession is legal, or if it is even a state, they chose to avoid controversy. On these points, the international community is no clearer now than it was before the case.

Keywords

KosovoInternational Court of Justicesecession
Type
Analysis of Current Events
Information
Nationalities Papers , Volume 39 , Issue 1 , January 2011 , pp. 1 - 11
Copyright
Copyright © 2011 Association for the Study of Nationalities 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahtisaari, Martti. Interview with the author. September 2008.Google Scholar
Archibugi, Daniele, “A Critical Analysis of the Self-Determination of Peoples: A Cosmopolitan Perspective.” Constellations 10.4 (2003): 488–505. Print.Google Scholar
Berg, Eiki. “Re-Examining Sovereignty Claims in Changing Territorialities: Reflections from ‘Kosovo Syndrome'.” Geopolitics 14.2 (2009): 219–34. Print.Google Scholar
Blum, Yehuda Z. “UN Membership of the ‘New’ Yugoslavia: Continuity or Break?” The American Journal of International Law 86.4 (1992): 830–33. Print.Google Scholar
Clapham, Christopher. “Degrees of Statehood.” Review of International Studies 24.2 (1998): 143–57. Print.Google Scholar
Crawford, James A. “State Practice and International Law in Relation to Secession.” The British Yearbook of International Law 69 (1998): 85–117. Print.Google Scholar
Economides, Spyros, Ker-Lindsay, James and Papadimitriou, Dimitris. “Kosovo: Four Futures.” Survival 52.5 (2010): 99–116. Print.Google Scholar
Fabry, Mikulas. Recognizing States: International Society and the Establishment of New States Since 1776. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.Google Scholar
Fierstein, Daniel. “Kosovo's Declaration of Independence: An Incident Analysis of Legality, Policy and Future Implications.” Boston University International Law Journal 26.2 (2008): 417–42. Print.Google Scholar
Garton Ash, Timothy. “The Kosovo Precedent.” LA Times 21 February 2008. Web.Google Scholar
Harun-ur-Rashid [former Bangladeshi Ambassador to the UN in Geneva]. “Side-Stepping the Legitimacy Issue of Kosovo.” The Daily Star (Bangladesh) 4 Aug. 2010.Google Scholar
Humphries, Conor. “Russia: Ruling Won't Make Kosovo Independence Legal.” Reuters 22 July 2010. Web.Google Scholar
International Court of Justice, ‘Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo', 22 July 2010. Print.Google Scholar
International Crisis Group. “Kosovo and Serbia after the ICJ Opinion.” Europe Report 206 (26 Aug. 2010). Print.Google Scholar
Jackson, Robert, Quasi-States: Sovereignty, International Relations and the Third World. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1993. Print.Google Scholar
Keating, Joshua. “How to Start Your Own Country in Four Easy Steps.” Foreign Policy (Feb. 2008). Web.Google Scholar
Keith, Kenneth. “Separate Opinion of Judge Keith,” International Court of Justice, “Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo,” 22 July 2010. Print.Google Scholar
Ker-Lindsay, James. “From Autonomy to Independence: The Evolution of International Thinking on Kosovo, 1998–2005.” Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies 11.2 (2009): 141–56. Print.Google Scholar
Koskenniemi, Martti. “National Self-Determination Today: Problems of Legal Theory and Practice.” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 43 (1994): 241–69. Print.Google Scholar
Kulish, Nicholas. “Recasting Serbia's Image, Starting With a Fresh Face.” New York Times 15 Jan. 2010. Web.Google Scholar
Mirviss, Laura G. “Kosovo President Recounts His Nation's Recovery.” Harvard Crimson 23 Sep. 2010. Web.Google Scholar
Pavlowitch, Stevan K. “Serbia, Montenegro and Yugoslavia,” in Djokic, Dejan (Ed.), Yugoslavism: Histories of a Failed Idea, 1918–1992. London: Hurst and Company, 2003. Print.Google Scholar
Pellet, Alain. “The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee: A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples.” European Journal of International Law 3.1 (1992): 178–85. Print.Google Scholar
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. “Transdniester Hails Court Ruling on Kosovo.” Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty 28 July 2010. Web.Google Scholar
of Cyprus, Republic. “The Minister of Foreign Affairs held talks with his German counterpart – 23/7/10 – 26/07/2010.” Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2010). Web.Google Scholar
Saideman, Stephen M. “Is Pandora's Box Half-empty or Half-full? The Limited Virulence of Secessionism and the Domestic Sources of Disintegration.” Policy Papers. Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of California Berkeley (1995). Web.Google Scholar
Simma, Bruno. “Declaration of Judge Simma,” International Court of Justice, “Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo,” 22 July 2010. Print.Google Scholar
Tanjug. “Chinese Envoy Confirms Support over Kosovo.” Tanjug 26 July 2010. Web.Google Scholar
Tomka, Peter. “Declaration of Vice-President Tomka,” International Court of Justice, “Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo,” 22 July 2010. Print.Google Scholar