Part I. Introduction and Context
dimensions of global migration governance”.221 These UN instruments thus take into
account statelessness, showing how this has become an issue that is more commonly
associated with any questions that concern migration and refugees.
State succession
State succession222 refers to the situation where one state replaces the other in the
responsibility for the international relations of territory.223 It has been held that state
succession is “[a] particular context in which the risk of a conflict of nationality laws
is high, and where a large number of persons may simultaneously be affected”.224 State
succession can occur in different forms, which are listed conveniently in Part II of the
Draft Articles on Nationality of Natural Person in relation to the Succession of State by
the International Law Commission (ILC)225: transfer of part of the territory; unification
of states; dissolution of a state; and separation of part(s) of the territory. Thus, state
succession could lead to statelessness, for instance where a person is not considered a
national of the successor state(s) nor the predecessor state(s). Also, and particularly,
it can create statelessness on a large scale – a result of (new) states using mass
denationalization as a tool to establish power of a territory and the people populating
it.226 As such, legal instruments concerning state succession would be helpful in
preventing statelessness from occurring.
As was considered above, the 1961 Convention pays only limited attention to state
succession, and no comprehensive international (UN level) treaty on state succession
currently exists. Nonetheless, the ILC Draft Articles on Nationality of Natural Persons
in relation to the Succession of States227 aim to address nationality matters in the
context of state succession. Of particular interest is Article 4 on the prevention of
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224
225
226
227
42
Tendayi Bloom, ‘Statelessness and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration. Policy
Brief’ (ENS/OU 2018) 4 <https://www.statelessness.eu/sites/default/fi les/2020–09/ENS_Statelessness_
Global_Compact_Migration_policy-brief.pdf> accessed 5 September 2021.
For an overview of state succession and issues of nationality and statelessness see Ineta Ziemele, ‘State
Succession and Issues of Nationality and Statelessness’ in Alice Edwards & Laura van Waas (eds),
Nationality and Statelessness under International Law (Cambridge University Press 2014) 217–246.
Cf Art 2(1)b Vienna Convention on the Succession of States in respect of treaties (adopted 23 August
1978, entered into force 6 November 1996) 1946 UNTS 3.
ISI, The World’s Stateless (Wolf Legal Publishers 2014) 24.
ILC, ‘Draft Articles on Nationality of Natural Persons in relation to the Succession of States with
Commentaries’ (1999) 2 Yearbook of the International Law Commission (part two) 19; annex to
UNGA Res 55/153 (12 December 2000) UN Doc A/RES/55/153. The ILC is a permanent UN organ,
established by the UNGA and tasked with making recommendations for the development of
international law and the codification thereof. See also Art 13 (1) UN Charter and Gerard-René de
Groot & Olivier Willem Vonk, International Standards on Nationality Law. Text, Cases and Materials
(Wolf Legal Publishers 2015) 324.
Francesco Costamagna, ‘Statelessness in the Context of State Succession. An Appraisal under
International Law’ in Alessandra Annoni & Serena Forlati, The Changing Role of Nationality in
International Law (Routledge 2013) 37–53, 38.
ILC, ‘Draft Articles on Nationality of Persons in relation to the Succession of States’ (1999) 2 Yearbook
of the International Law Commission 23 (1999 ILC Draft Articles).
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