Divided States

Divided States

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

The concept of “divided States” has been used, at least since the early 20th century, “to denote the specific legal situation of a number of States which previously belonged to a single State or to colonial possessions and which, in the period after World War II, found themselves divided into separate State. There are no generally recognized principles of public international law or agreed definitions on the concept of divided State, or its legal implications. A survey of the solutions to the practical issues created by divided States indicates that no general concept exists in this area, but that the specific legal situation has to be examined individually in each case to arrive at viable solutions for the various issues raised. Thus even though all affected States are confronted with similar issues, the notion of divided States has no intrinsic legal quality from which specific conclusions may be drawn.” (1)

Resources

Further Reading

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia of Disputes Installment, 1987

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