FORMATION OF STATE BY SECESSION AND THE IMPORT OF RECOGNITION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

Abstract

An entity that secedes by exercising its right of external self-determination as per secession may be required to gain recognition in order to consolidate its status as a state. The right of self-determination may be futile if an entity that secedes does not become fully independent and functional as a state. This paper adopts a doctrinal research method which enabled the finding that although recognition does stand out in matters concerning statehood it is unclear whether an act of recognition is essential to the formation or emergence of states. The paper prescribes a viable ground for emergence of states as entrenched in the propounded theory in the work which places emphasis on the capacity of a seceding entity to govern itself as a criterion for statehood rather than recognition.