CYIL 2013

PAVEL BUREŠ – MARTIN FAIX CYIL 4 ȍ2013Ȏ consequences of the loss of the whole territory of a state and whether such a situation results in the termination of the state. As the debates on-going in some island states ( e.g. the Maldives) show, this originally rather theoretical question continuously becomes more and more practical, raising a lot of practical and legal problems. The second panel dealt with questions of international legal norms applicable during the process of the formation of states. Firstly, the issue of the application of the rule of law during the dissolution and formation of states was presented based on the example of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In such situations the principle ex iniuria ius non oritur and the non-violation of ius cogens norms are of great importance when all criteria of statehood (Montevideo Convention) are fulfilled. The last contribution of the panel focused on issues concerning international legal responsibility for violations of human rights during secession by different subjects to the secession – states, insurrection movements and individuals – by means of international criminal responsibility. The third panel of presentations approached the Kosovo ICJ Advisory opinion from various perspectives. Issues such as the general concept of recognition in modern international law were addressed. The first presentation of the panel dealt with collective recognition and questions of whether and how this is perceived by the international community and with respect to and within international organizations. The following presentation then debated the creation of Kosovo in the light of ICJ Advisory opinion and its integration in the international community. Furthermore the issue of Kosovo’s independence and its implication for international law was debated. The panel was closed by a discussion on legal aspects of the non-recognition of a state. The last panel, which took place in the morning of the second conference day (10 May), was dedicated to the international aspects of the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic and the successive creation of two new states, the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The first presentation of the panel raised the issue of the succession of the independent Slovak Republic to diplomatic relations of the former Czechoslovakia and the succession to international treaties of the former Czechoslovakia and their position in the Slovak constitutional order. The following presentation analysed the spectrum of bilateral treaties between the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic on the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The author has counted more than one hundred and fifty bilateral agreements, protocols and mutual understandings on different aspects related to the dissolution and dated from 1992 to 2008. The panel was closed by a presentation on a Czechoslovakian note with the topic of the future: the creation of a state by the fusion of two state units. The presentation was titled “20 years from the dissolution of the Czechoslovakia – how many years to the fusion?”. The extensive debates during the conference and also the number of participants have shown the importance and relevance of the topic of States’ formation and disappearance in both the theory and practice of international law. When listening to the contributions of conference participants one could clearly link their content to the current discussions taking place in the international community. However, the