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The Kosovo Reference and Kosovo’s Secession

Global Encyclopedia of Territorial Rights

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The International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) delivered on July 22, 2010, its Advisory Opinion on Kosovo’s declaration of independence. Beyond the declaration of independence itself, the ICJ had to turn its mind to several core concepts of public international law, such as statehood, self-determination, territorial integrity, and secession.

The four traditional requirements of statehood are provided in Article 1 of the 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. They are (1) a defined territory, (2) a permanent population, (3) a government, and (4) the capacity to enter into international relations. In addition,

Anderson (2015, 356–357; Anderson 2015, 14) adds that “an additional fifth criterion – independence – has also been widely held as essential.”

Self-determination is provided by various important legal instruments of international law, including the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe where self-determination...

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  1. Public Prosecution Service of Canada, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Sébastien Lafrance

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    Michael Kocsis

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    Kevin W. Gray

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Lafrance, S. (2021). The Kosovo Reference and Kosovo’s Secession. In: Kocsis, M. (eds) Global Encyclopedia of Territorial Rights. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68846-6_563-2

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    The Kosovo Reference and Kosovo’s Secession
    Published:
    22 May 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68846-6_563-2

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    The Kosovo Reference and Kosovo’s Secession
    Published:
    17 April 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68846-6_563-1

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