Kosovo's declaration of independence: Self-determination and sovereignty revisited

Review of Central and East European Law

Volumn 33, Issue 4, 2008, Pages 401-435

  Muharremi, Robert ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

Effectiveness; Independence; Kosovo; Secession; Self determination; Serbia; Sovereignty; Statehood; United Nations; UNMIK; Yugoslavia

Indexed keywords

EID: 68349093914     PISSN: 09259880     EISSN: 15730352     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/157303508X339689     Document Type: Article

References (228)

1. The terms 'Federal Republic of Yugoslavia', 'Yugoslavia' and 'Serbia' will be used interchangeably throughout the text as, under international law, the existing Republic of Serbia continues the legal personality of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (consisting of the Republic of Serbia and of Montenegro) emerged in 1992 from the disintegrating Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia as a new state. The transformation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia into the Union of Serbia and Montenegro is considered to be constitutional rearrangement without affecting its legal personality and status under international law Following the separation of the Republic of Montenegro, the International Court of Justice recognized that the Republic of Montenegro does not continue the legal personality of the Union of Serbia and Montenegro and, by implication, recognized thereby that such continuity is vested in the Republic of Serbia. See International Court of Justice (ICJ), Case Concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, judgment of 26 February 2007, para. 76.
2. John J. Merriam, "Kosovo and the Law of Humanitarian Intervention", 33 Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law (2001), 111-154;
3. Jonathan J. Charney "Anticipatory Humanitarian Intervention in Kosovo", 32 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (1999), 1231-1248;
4. Julie Mertus, "The Imprint of Kosovo on the Law of Humanitarian Intervention", 6 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law (1999-2000), 527-540;
5. David Wippman, "Kosovo and the Limits of International Law", 25 Fordham International Law Journal (2001-2002), 129-150;
6. Hugh Barrie McCullough, "Intervention in Kosovo: Legal Effective", 7 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law (2000-2001), 299-314;
7. Christopher C Joyner, "The Responsibility to Protect: Humanitarian Concern and the Lawfulness of Armed Intervention", 47 Virginia Journal of International Law (2006-2007), 693-724;
8. Anne-Sophie Massa, "NATO's Intervention in Kosovo and the Decision of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia not to Investigate", 24 Berkeley Journal of International Law (2006), 610-649;
9. Monica Hakimi, "To Condone or Condemn Regional Enforcement Actions in the Absence of Security Council Authorization", 40 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (2007), 643-686;
10. Carsten Stahn, "Responsibility to Protect: Political Rhetoric or Emerging Legal Norm.", 101 American Journal of International Law (2007), 99-120;
11. and Achilles Skordas, "Hegemonic Intervention as Legitimate Use of Force", 16 Minnesota Journal of International Law (2007), 407-456.
12. Alexandros Yannis, "The UN as Government in Kosovo", 10 Global Governance (2004), 67-81;
13. Jetish Jashari, "UN Field Missions in the Context of Legal and Judicial Reform: The Kosovo Case", 76 Columbia Journal of East European Law (2007), 76-113;
14. Wendy S. Betts, Scott N. Carlson and Gregory Gisvold, "The Post-Conflict Administration of Kosovo and the Lessons-Learned in Efforts to Establish Judiciary and Rule of Law", 22 Michigan Journal of International Law (2000-2001), 371-390;
15. Anthony J. Miller, "UNMIK: Lessons from the Early Institution-Building Phase", 39 New England Law Review (2004-2005), 9-24;
16. Ralph Wilde, "From Bosnia to Kosovo and East Timor: The Changing Role of the United Nations in the Administration of Territory", 6 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law (1999-2000), 467-472;
17. Leopold von Carlowitz, "Crossing the Boundary from the International to the Domestic Realm: UNMIK Lawmaking and Property Rights in Kosovo", 10 Global Governance (2004), 307-331;
18. Carsten Stahn, "Justice under Transitional Administration: Contours and Critique of a Paradigm", 27 Houston Journal of International Law (2004-2005), 311-344;
19. and Marcus G Brand, "Institution-Building and Human Rights Protection in Kosovo in the Light of UNMIK Legislation", 70 Nordic Journal of International Law (2001), 461-488.
20. Maria Stephan, "Fighting for Statehood: The Role of Civilian-Based Resistance in the East-Timorese, Palestinian, and Kosovo-Albanian Self-Determination Movements", 30 Fletcher Forum of World Affairs (2006), 57-79;
21. Lorie M. Graham, "Self-determination for Indigenous Peoples after Kosovo: Translating Self-determination 'Into Practice' and 'Into Peace'", 6 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law (1999-2000), 455-466;
22. and Valerie Epps, "Self-determination After Kosovo and East Timor", 6 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law (1999-2000), 445-454.
23. Tim Judah, "Divorcing Serbia: The Western Balkans in 2006", 30 Fletcher Forum of World Affairs (2006), 213-220, at 216;
24. Paul R. Williams, "Earned Sovereignty: The Road to Resolving the Conflict over Kosovo's Final Status", 31 Denver Journal of International Law and Policy (2002-2003), 387-426, at 387;
25. and Yannis, op. cit. note 3, 78.
26. Kosovo Declaration of Independence, proclaimed 17 February 2008, available at .
27. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999), adopted 10 June 1999, available at (hereinafter "Resolution 1244").
28. Security Council Report, "Kosovo", Update Report No.1, 10 March 2008, 4, available at .
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid.
31. Ibid., 3.
32. United Nations, "Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo", S/2008/354, 12 June 2008, para. 16.
33. Francis A. Gabor, "Reflections on NATO's New Mission: Conflict Prevention in the Struggle for Ethnic Self-determination", 29(2) Review of Central and East European Law (2004), 247-256, at 252.
34. James Crawford, The Creation of States in International Law (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006), 510.
35. Noel Malcolm, Kosovo-A Short History (Macmillan, London, 1998), 251-252.
36. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 511.
37. Henry H. Perritt, Final Status for Kosovo, 80 Chicago-Kent Law Review (2005), 3-30, at 6.
38. Wolfgang Petritsch, Karl Kaser and Robert Pichler, Kosovo-Kosova, Mythen, Daten, Fakten (Wieser, Klagenfurt, Wien, Ljubljana, Tuzla, Sarajevo, 1999), 87.
39. Under the 1931 Constitution of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the geographic entity that today comprises Kosovo was divided into three political entities called Banovina-i.e., the Banovina of Zeta, Morava and Vardar.
40. Art.2, 1946 Constitution of the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia ("The People's Republic of Serbia includes the autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the autonomous Kosovo-Metohija Region").
41. Arts.111 and 112, 1963 Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
42. Perritt, op. cit. note 17, 7;
43. and Williams, op. cit. note 5, 395.
44. Art.1, 1974 Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
45. This legal distinction between republics and autonomous provinces became significant during the break-up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s when the Badinter Arbitration Commission determined that the republics were successor states of the disintegrating Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, while not extending such legal status also to the autonomous provinces.
46. Williams, op. cit. note 5, 396.
47. Robert M. Hayden, The State as Legal Fiction, 7 East European Constitutional Review (1998), 45-50, at 45.
48. Williams, op. cit. note 5, 396;
49. Ted Baggett, "Human Rights Abuses in Yugoslavia: To Bring an End to Political Oppression, the International Community Should Assist in Establishing an Independent Kosovo", 27 Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law (1998-1999), 457-476, at 461.
50. Baggett, op. cit. note 27, 462.
51. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN HCHR), Sub-commission on Human Rights Resolution 1993/9, adopted 20 August 1993, available at , with reference to the report submitted by Mr. Tadeusz Mazowiecki, Special Rapporteur of the UN HCHR, "Situation of Human Rights on the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia", E/CN.4/1993/50, 10 February 1993, available at .
52. Baggett, op. cit. note 27, 464-466.
53. See Hilary Charlesworth, "International Law: A Discipline in Crisis", 65 Modern Law Review (2002), 377-392, at 385.
54. Williams, op. cit. note 5, 397.
55. Ibid., 402-404.
56. Ibid., 403.
57. See McCullough, op. cit. note 2, 301.
58. Resolution 1244, Annexes 1 and 2.
59. On the legal problems concerning the conformity with international law of establishing such international civil presences in Kosovo, see Epaminotas E. Triantafilou, "Matter of Law, Question of Policy: Kosovo's Current and Future Status under International Law", 5 Chicago Journal of International Law (2004-2005), 355-368, at 358-365;
60. and Andreas Zimmermann and Carsten Stahn, "Yugoslav Territory United Nations Trusteeship or Sovereign State Reflections on the Current and Future Legal Status of Kosovo", 70 Nordic Journal of International Law (2001), 423-460, at 436-441.
61. Resolution 1244, paras. 6 and 10.
62. Resolution 1244, paras. 7 and 9.
63. Resolution 1244, para. 11(e).
64. UNMIK Regulation No.1999/1 on the Authority of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, adopted 25 July 1999, available at .
65. UNMIK Regulation No.2001/19 on the Executive Branch of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government in Kosovo, adopted 13 September 2001, available at .
66. See, also, Franklin de Vrieze, "Towards Self-Government in Kosovo", 13 Helsinki Monitor (2002), 11-25, at 11-14.
67. UNMIK Regulation No.2001/19, Chapter I.
68. Ibid., Chapter 8.
69. Franklin de Vrieze, "Kosovo After the March 2004 Crisis", 15 Helsinki Monitor (2004), 147-159, at 147-149.
70. Ibid., 152.
71. Ibid., 151-153;
72. Williams, op. cit. note 5, 423.
73. Statement by the President of the Security Council, S/PRST/2005/51, 24 October 2005, available at .
74. Ibid.
75. United Nations Department of Public Information Press Release, "Secretary-General Appoints Former President Martti Ahtisaari of Finland as Special Envoy for Future Status Process for Kosovo", SG/A/955, 15 November 2005, available at .
76. On the status talks process, see Viola Trebicka, "Recent Developments: Lessons from the Kosovo Status Talks-On Humanitarian Intervention and Self-determination", 32 Yale Journal of International Law (2007), 255-268, at 256-257.
77. Letter dated 26 March 2007 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council, "Report of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Kosovo's Future Status", S/2007/168, 26 March 2007, available at .
78. Addendum to the Letter of the Secretary-General dated 26 March 2007, "Comprehensive Proposal for the Kosovo Status Settlement", S/2007/168/Add.1, 26 March 2007, available at .
79. Art.14, ibid.
80. Art.12(3), ibid.
81. Annex IX, Art.4(1), ibid.
82. Arts.12(1) and 13(2), ibid.
83. Annex IX, Art.2(1), ibid.
84. Report of the EU/US/Russia Troika on Kosovo, 4 December 2007, available at .
85. European Council, Council Joint Action 2008/124/CFSP, 4 February 2008, 42 OF L (2008), 92.
86. European Council, Council Joint Action 2008/123/CFSP, 4 February 2008, 42 OF L (2008), 88.
87. Security Council Report, op. cit. note 8.
88. United Nations, op. cit. note 12, paras. 14-16.
89. Statement of Serbia's Minister of Foreign Affairs, 5850th Meeting of the Security Council, S/PV5850, 11 March 2008, available at .
90. United Nations Charter, adopted 26 June 1945, entered into force 24 October 1945, available at .
91. United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, adopted 16 December 1966, entered into force 23 March 1976, available at .
92. United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, adopted 16 December 1966, entered into force 3 January 1976, available at .
93. Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in Accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, UN General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV), adopted 24 October 1970, available at .
94. ICJ, East Timor (Portugal v. Australia), judgment of 30 June 1995, available at l,
95. with reference to ICJ, Legal Consequences for States of the Continued Presence of South Africa in Namibia (South West Africa) notwithstanding Security Council Resolution 276 (1970), advisory opinion of 21 June 1971, paras. 31-32, available at
96. and ICJ, Western Sahara, advisory opinion of 16 October 1975, paras. 31-33, available at (in French).
97. See Hans-Joachim Heintze, "Völker im Völkerrecht", in Knut Ipsen (ed.), Völkerrecht (C.H. Beck, München, 1999), 341-386, at 342;
98. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 127;
99. and Karl Doehring, Völkerrecht (C.F. Müller, Heidelberg, 2004), 339.
100. ICJ, Western Sahara, op.cit. note 69, para. 55.
101. Heintze, op. cit. note 70, 356.
102. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 125.
103. Heintze, op. cit. note 70, 356.
104. Art.7, Declaration on the Definition of Aggression, UN General Assembly Resolution 3314 (XXIX), adopted 14 December 1974, available at .
105. United Nations Millennium Declaration, UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/55/2, adopted 18 September 2000, available at .
106. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 127.
107. Supreme Court of Canada, Reference re Secession of Quebec, opinion of 30 September 1996, para. 138.
108. Ibid.
109. Antonio Cassese, International Law (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005), 61.
110. Ibid., 63.
111. Ibid.
112. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 415.
113. Ibid.
114. Ibid.
115. Ibid., 119.
116. Ibid., 118-119.
117. Doehring, op. cit. note 70, 347-348;
118. Heintze, op. cit. note 70, 361.
119. Kay Hailbronner, "Der Staat und der Einzelne als Völkerrechtssubjekte", in Wolfgang Graf Vitzthum (ed.), Völkerrecht (De Gruyter Recht, Berlin, 2004), 191;
120. Baggett, op. cit. note 27, 473.
121. Triantaflou, op. cit. note 37, 362;
122. Jonathan I. Charney Self-Determination: Chechnya, Kosovo and East Timor", 34 Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law (2001), 455-468, at 458;
123. Zimmermann and Stahn, op. cit. note 37, 454;
124. Valerie Epps, "Self-Determination after Kosovo and East Timor", 6 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law (1999-2000), 445-454, at 451.
125. Hayden, op. cit. note 26, 46.
126. Allain Pellet, "The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Commission-A Second Breath for the Self-determination of Peoples", 3 European Journal of International Law (1992), 178-185, at 184.
127. Ibid.
128. Baggett, op. cit. note 27, 472-474;
129. Charney, op. cit. note 90, 460-462;
130. Epps, op. cit. note 90, 452.
131. Trebicka, op. cit. note 51, 256;
132. Zimmermann and Stahn, op. cit. note 37, 453.
133. Ibid.
134. Paul A. Clark, "Taking Self-determination Seriously: When can Cultural and Political Minorities Control Their Own Fate", 5 Chicago Journal of International Law (2004-2005), 737-752, at 744.
135. Letter dated 26 March 2007 from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the Security Council, op. cit. note 52, para. 6.
136. Ibid.
137. Statement made by Mr. Verbeke (Belgium), 5839th Meeting of the Security Council, S/PV.5839, 18 February 2008, 8, available at .
138. Statement made by Sir John Sawers (United Kingdom), ibid., 13.
139. Statement made by Mr. Urbina (Costa Rica), ibid., 17.
140. Report of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General on Kosovo s Future Status, op. cit. note 52, para. 7.
141. Ibid.
142. Statement made by Mr. Verbeke (Belgium), 5839th Meeting of the Security Council, op. cit. note 100, 8.
143. Statement made by Mr. Mantovani (Italy), ibid., 10.
144. Statement made by Mr. Jurica (Croatia), ibid., 16.
145. Charles A. Kupchan, "Independence for Kosovo-Yielding to Balkan Reality", 84 Foreign Affairs (2005), 14-21, at 17.
146. Ibid.
147. Zimmermann and Stahn, op. cit. note 37, 456.
148. Baggett, op. cit. note 27, 469.
149. Wolfgang Benedek, "Implications of the Independence of Kosovo for International Law", in Isabelle Buffard, James Crawford, Alain Pellet and Stephan Wittich (eds.), International Law Between Universalism and Fragmentation, Festschrift in Honour of Gerhard Haffner (Mastinus Nijhoff, Leiden, 2008).
150. Statement made by Mr. Tadic (Serbia), 5839th Security Council Meeting, op. cit. note 100, 4-5.
151. Yannis, op. cit. note 3, 70.
152. Charney op. cit. note 90, 462.
153. Williams, op. cit. note 5, 407.
154. Jacques Rupnik, Kosovo: Dilemmas of the Protectorate, 9 East European Constitutional Review (2000), 48-50, at 49. Zimmermann and Stahn, op. cit. note 37, 427.
155. Ibid., 428-429.
156. Perritt, op. cit. note 17, 10;
157. Williams, op. cit. note 5, 408;
158. and Zimmermann and Stahn, op. cit. note 37, 428.
159. Perritt, op. cit. note 17, 10.
160. Annex to statement made by Mr. Sawers (United Kingdom), 5839th Security Council Meeting, op.cit. note 100, 8, available at .
161. Ibid.
162. Ibid.
163. Ibid.
164. Ibid.
165. Benedek, op. cit. note 112.
166. Ibid.
167. Ibid.
168. Williams, op. cit. note 5, 415.
169. United Nations, op. cit. note 12, para. 11.
170. Christopher J. Borgen, "Kosovo's Declaration of Independence: Self-determination, Secession and Recognition", 12(2) ASIL Insight (2008), available at .
171. Cassese, op. cit. note 80, 12-13.
172. Ibid., 13.
173. On the relevance or recognition by the metropolitan state, see Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 367-379.
174. Kay Hailbronner, "Der Staat und der Einzelne als Völkerrechtssubjekte", in Wolfgang Graf Vitzthum (ed.), Völkerrecht (De Gruyter Recht, Berlin, 2004), 149-243, at 200.
175. Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, adopted 26 December 1933, entered into force 26 December 1934, available at .
176. Zimmermann and Stahn, op. cit. note 37, 427.
177. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 382.
178. Ibid., 58 and 60.
179. Ibid., 383.
180. Ibid., 128.
181. Ibid.;
182. see, also, Ian Brownlie, Principles of Public International Law (Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2003), 71.
183. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 59.
184. Georg Nolte, "Kein Recht auf Abspaltung", Guest Commentary, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Online, 13 February 2008, available at .
185. Dan Bilefsky, "Serbs Continue to Push for Control of Northern Kosovo", The New York Times, 21 February 2008, available at
186. Dan Bilefsky, "Kosovar Serbs Clash with the Police", The New York Times, 18 March 2008, available at .
187. See UNMIK, "UN Mission Reasserts its Control over Stretch of Rail Line in Northern Kosovo", Press Release, 4 March 2008, available at .
188. "Pending guidance from the Security Council, UNMIK will continue to consider Council resolution 1244 (1999) as the legal framework for its mandate and will continue to implement its mandate in the light of the evolving circumstances." Statement by the Secretary-General, 5839th Security Council Meeting, op. cit. note 100, 3.
189. Volker Epping, "Völkerrechtssubjekte", in Knut Ipsen (ed.), Völkerrecht (C.H. Beck, München, 1999), 51-91, at 57;
190. Jeannine Drohla, "Völkerrechtssubjekte", in Heintschel von Heinegg (ed), Casebook Völkerrecht (C.H. Beck, München, 2005), 1-70, at 30.
191. Brownlie, op. cit. note 143, 71.
192. The terms 'independence' and 'sovereignty' may be used interchangeably. See Brownlie, op. cit. note 143, 75.
193. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 65-66.
194. Epping, op. cit. note 149, 57.
195. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 67 and 72.
196. Ibid., 88.
197. Ibid., 71.
198. Ibid.
199. United Nations, op. cit. note 12, para. 7.
200. Ibid., para. 17.
201. Ibid., para. 4.
202. European Council, Council Joint Action on the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, 2008/124/CFSP, 4 February 2008, Preamble, para. (1), available at .
203. United Nations, op. cit. note 12, para. 16.
204. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 72.
205. Ibid.
206. Annex IX, Art.2(1), Comprehensive Settlement of the Future Status of Kosovo (emphasis added).
207. Ibid.
208. Annex IX, Art.2(6), ibid.
209. Art.143(1), Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, proclaimed 8 April 2008. Unless otherwise determined, references to articles are references to articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. The Constitution of Kosovo is available at .
210. Statement made by Mr. Mantovani (Italy), 5839th Security Council Meeting, op. cit. note 100, 10.
211. Brownlie, op. cit. note 143, 130-131;
212. Crawford, op. cit. note 14, 501-564.
213. The ISG is composed of the following states: Britain, France, Germany, Italy, United States, Austria, Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, Turkey, Belgium, Denmark, Hungary, Slovenia, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Poland. See "First Meeting of the Inter national Steering Group for Koso vo held in Vienna", The Inter national Herald Tribune, 28 February 2008, available at
214. and "New States Join Kosovo's Supervisory Body", Balkan Insight, 21 May 2008, available at .
215. Graham, op. cit. note 4, 457.
216. Paul C. Szasz, "The Irresistible Force of Self-Determination Meets the Impregnable Fortress of Territorial Integrity: A Cautionary Fairy Tale About Clashes in Kosovo and Elsewhere", 28 Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law (1999), 1-8, at 5;
217. Borgen, op. cit. note 134;
218. Benedek, op. cit. note 112, 17.
219. Statements made by Mr. Verbeke (Belgium), Mr. Sawers (United Kingdom) and Mr. Khalilzad (United States), 5839th Security Council Meeting, op. cit. note 100, 9, 14 and 18.
220. Benedek, op. cit. note 112, 17.
221. United Nations, "A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility", Report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, A/59/565, 2 December 2004, para. 199-203;
222. United Nations, "In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All", Report of the Secretary-General, A/59/2005, 21 March 2005, para. 135; 2005 World Summit Outcome, General Assembly Resolution 60/1, 24 October 2005, paras. 138-139; Security Council Resolution 1674 (2006), 28 April 2006, para. 4.
223. United Nations, Report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change, op. cit. note 176, para. 201.
224. Ibid.
225. See Georg Nolte, "Sovereignty as Responsibility", 99 American Society of International Law Proceedings (2005), 389-392, at 391.
226. Martti Koskenniemi, The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870-1960. Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Series Lectures (No.14) (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001).
227. Szasz, op. cit. note 173, 5.
228. Diane F. Orentlicher, "The Imprint of Kosovo on International Law", 6 ILSA Journal of International and Comparative Law (1999-2000), 541-545, at 541.