Declaratory Theory

Definition of Declaratory Theory

In accordance with the work A Dictionary of Law, this is a description of Declaratory Theory : The proposition that a state has capacity (and personality) in international law as soon as it exists in fact (that is, when it becomes competent in municipal law). This capacity is generated spontaneously from the assertion by the community that it is a judicial entity. When socially organized, the new state is internally legally organized, and hence competent to act in such a way as to engage itself in international responsibility. Thus, according to this theory, *recognition does not create any state that did not already exist.

See international legal personality.

Compare constitutive theory.

Declaratory Theory

Embracing mainstream international law, this section on declaratory theory explores the context, history and effect of the area of the law covered here.

Resources

Further Reading

• The entry “declaratory theory” in the Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (currently, the Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law, 2009), Oxford University Press