Recognition in

International Law
Law Faculty of Universitas Andalas
 Summary of Recognition
By Malcom N Shaw, International Law, 8th Edition

International society is not an unchanging entity, but is subject to the ebb

and flow of political life. New states are created and old units fall away. New
governments come into being within states in a manner contrary to declared
constitutions whether or not accompanied by force. Insurgencies occur and
belligerent administrations are established in areas of territory hitherto
controlled by the legitimate government. Each of these events creates new
facts and the question that recognition is concerned with revolves around
the extent to which legal effects should flow from such occurrences. Each
state will have to decide whether or not to recognise the particular
eventuality and the kind of legal entity it should be accepted as.
Recognition involves consequences both on the international plane and
within municipal law. If an entity is recognised as a state in, for example,
the United Kingdom, it will entail the consideration of rights and duties that
would not otherwise be relevant. There are privileges permitted to a
foreign state before the municipal courts that would not be allowed to
other institutions or persons.
Introduction

 One of the essential question when

discussing about “recognition” in
international law is whether a birth of a
new state is a legal matter or an extra
juridical matter?
It is stating the obvious to point to the very strong political influences that
bear upon this topic. In more cases than not the decision whether or not to
recognise will depend more upon political considerations than exclusively
legal factors. Recognition is not merely applying the relevant legal
consequences to a factual situation, for sometimes a state will not want
such consequences to follow, either internationally or domestically.

To give one example, the United States refused for many years to
recognise either the People's Republic of China or North Korea, not
because it did not accept the obvious fact that these authorities exercised
effective control over their respective territories, but rather because it did
not wish the legal effects of recognition to come into operation. It is purely
a political judgment, although it has been clothed in legal terminology. In
addition, there are a variety of options open as to what an entity may be
Types of Recognation

Recognition of States

Recognition of Governments

Recognition of Belligerency

Recognition of National Liberation Movement

Next Question

•Is a new state directly belong to

“international personality” with all
rights and obligation in International
Law?