Elements of State

Asha S Nair
20DBLAW005
B.B.A.L.LB.(Hons.)
What makes
State , a State?
Contents
● Introduction
● Criteria for statehood
○ Definition
○ Montevideo Convention
■ Defined Territory
■ Permanent Population
■ Government
■ Capacity to enter into relation with other states
○ Secondary Criterias
■ Independance
■ Effectiveness
● Conclusion
● Bibliography
 INTRODUCTION
● The concept of Statehood is shrouded in many ambiguities.
● Declarative theory (Defined Territory, Permanent Population, Government)
● Constitutive Theory(willingness to enter into relation, recognition by other
states.)
● A state is a community of humans more or less numerous, permanently holding
a specified section of land, autonomous or nearly so, and possessing an
organised Government to which the great body of inhabitants offer habitual
allegiance,” writes J. W. Garner. Garner’s definition encompasses all of the
state’s components.
● Population, territory, administration, and sovereignty are the four elements that
a state must have.
 ● Definitions
● Montevideo Convention
○ Territory
○ Permanent population
○ Government

Criteria of ○ Capacity to enter into relation with

other states

Statehood ● Secondary criterias

○ Independance
○ Democratically legitimated Authority
○ Effectiveness
 Definitions
1. Since 1945, several attempts have been made to agree on such a definition. During the
negotiations over the draft text on the Declaration on the Rights and Duties of States
(1949), the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (1956 and 1966) and the articles
on Succession of States in respect of Treaties (1974), attempts were made to describe the
concept of the State. None of these efforts succeeded

2. The importance of effective control was underscored as early as 1929 by the arbitrator in
the case of the Deutsche Continental Gas-Gesellschaft. 53 The arbitrator stated that „[a]
State does not exist unless it fulfills the conditions of possessing a territory, a people
inhabiting that territory, and a public power which is exercised over the people and the
territory
Montevideo Convention
The1933Montevideo Convention on the Rights and
Duties of States sets out four criteria for statehood. •
Article 1 of the Convention provides that the state as a
person of international law should possess the following
four qualifications:
(a) a permanent population;
(b) a defined territory;
(c) government; and
(d) capacity to enter relations with the other states.
 Permanent Population
States are not only territorial entities, but they also consist of
groups of individuals. Therefore, a permanent population is
another necessary requirement for statehood
• A State needs to have a permanent population in order to
exist, although what level of population it will need is not
entirely clear
• Some States (e.g. China and India) have populations in the
billions.
• Other States (e.g. Nauru and Tuvalu) have a population of
fewer than ten thousand people living within their territory
 Defined Territory Government

AState needs some form of All States must have a government •

territory This involves physical control, the
• Itis what defines them physical administration of territory •
• It is how they are AState that is unable to control its
represented physically on territory; that cannot show that it is
governing and administering lands
maps and in diagrams under its sovereignty, is going to
Land is essential for a struggle to demonstrate the
State to be viewed as a sovereignty over that territory as
State against other States
CAPACITY TO ENTER INTO INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Requires some degree of engagement with the

international community
• The ability of a State to be able to carry on
relations, discourse, exchange ambassadors with
other States
• There needs to be some level of recognition of a
State being a State by the rest of the international
community
 Secondary Features
Independance

● the authority must be exercised independent of external interference.

Independence is widely considered as one of the most important requirements
for statehood. A number of authors regard independence in fact as the most
important criterion for statehood.

Effectiveness

● Questions regarding the creation of a new State often revolve around the
criterion of effective authority. Crawford notes that „[T]he requirement that a
putative State have an effective government might be regarded as central to its
claim for statehood.
 Conclusion

The notion of the modern State has undergone numerous significant changes since
its formal conception at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the last two
centuries, the State has gone from primarily being regarded as a „matter of law‟, to
being regarded as a „matter of fact‟.