Status of the De Facto State in Public International Law A Legal Appraisal of the Principle of Effectiveness by Sergo Turmanidze LL.M. Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of Law of the University of Hamburg In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) Hamburg, 2010 Titel der Dissertation: Status of the De Facto State in Public International Law – A Legal Appraisal of the Principle of Effectiveness – Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktor der Rechtswissenschaft (Dr. iur.) des Fachbereichs Rechtswissenschaft der Universität Hamburg vorgelegt von Sergo Turmanidze LL.M. aus Tbilissi, Georgien Hamburg, 2010 Erstgutachter: Prof. Dr. Luchterhandt Zweitgutachter: Prof. Dr. Bruha Tag der mündlichen Prüfung: 30.06.2010 ii To my mom iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank my dissertation supervisor, Prof. Dr. iur. Otto Luchterhandt, for tirelessly offering support and advice throughout the period I worked on my doctoral dissertation. He shared his experience with regard to the very essence of the scientific study and offered cogent suggestions in respect of this doctoral thesis. Those suggestions guided me through the realm of public international law, bettered my project and gave me the necessary push. I owe many debts to Prof. Dr. iur. LL.M. Rainer Lagoni and Prof. Dr. Stefan Oeter at the University of Hamburg for supporting me throughout the process, professionally as well as morally. They wrote, together with my dissertation supervisor, in recommendation of my project and helped me to obtain the necessary means for dissertation research and writing. In this regard, I am grateful to the two institutions that financed my project. The University of Hamburg funded two years in the Free and Hanseatic City on the ground of the Ph.D. grant based on the Hamburg Law of Funding for Young Academics and Artists (HmbNFG). Accordingly, I would like to express my profound gratitude to the administration of the University of Hamburg. The Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S. awarded me a scholarship aimed at financing the final phase of my work on the dissertation. I appreciate the generosity of this foundation and would like to express my best thanks for its investment in my project. For this whole time I enjoyed the hospitality and openness which strengthened my research in the field. I appreciate the helpfulness of the personnel of the NATO Depository Library and Resource Center of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies (GFSIS) in Tbilisi, the State and University Library Carl von Ossietzky in Hamburg, the Central Library of the Faculty of Law (ZBR) and the library of the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH). My greatest debt is to my mother who has been so supportive throughout the period of my work on the present doctoral thesis. I am grateful to my friends and colleagues for giving me moral support during this process. iv Table of Contents List of Abbreviations................................................................................................. xiii Bibliography.............................................................................................................. xx Books and Articles.....................................................................................................................xx Judicial Decisions ....................................................................................................................xlvi Domestic Courts...................................................................................................................xlvi International Tribunals .........................................................................................................xlvi UN Security Council Resolutions......................................................................................... xlviii UN General Assembly Resolutions .........................................................................................xlix Other Official Documents........................................................................................................xlix Domestic Legislation ....................................................................................................................l International Agreements............................................................................................................lii Official Letters, Addresses, Statements and Declarations.........................................................liv Interviews and Press Conferences .............................................................................................lvi Official Internet Sites and other Electronic Sources..................................................................lvi Miscellanea ...............................................................................................................................lvii Abstract ...................................................................................................................... 1 Definition of the Subject Matter.................................................................................... 2 De facto regime............................................................................................................................2 Why the term “de facto state”? ....................................................................................................3 Distinct concepts by different scholars........................................................................................4 Pål Kolstø......................................................................................................................4 Michael Rywkin ............................................................................................................5 Charles King..................................................................................................................5 Randall Baker................................................................................................................5 Vladimir Kolossov / John O’Loughlin..........................................................................6 Deon Geldenhuys ..........................................................................................................6 Dov Lynch.....................................................................................................................6 v The issue of statehood and the notion of secession, their relevance to the subject matter ..........8 The concept of a “de facto state” and its dimensions ..................................................................9 Definition of the term...............................................................................................................9 Dimensions of de facto statehood ..........................................................................................10 Lack of “substantive recognition” – a hallmark of de facto statehood ..................................11 Author’s terminological choice: the concept of the “de facto state”......................................13 Outline of the Project and Methodical Approach to the Subject Matter ......................... 15 Introduction: General Problem of Law-Fact Interaction within the Realm of Public International Law ...................................................................................................... 18 Distinguishing features of public international law: why do facts matter? ...............................18 Criticism of an approach implying self-evident prevalence of facts in the context of law- fact interaction ...........................................................................................................................23 Part I ........................................................................................................................ 25 “Different Faces” of the Principle of Effectiveness...............................................................25 Chapter 1: The concept known as “normative Kraft des Faktischen”...........................25 1.1 Jellinek’s “normative Kraft des Faktischen” and its relevance to the international legal system...............................................................................................25 1.2 Assessment of the concept of “normative Kraft des Faktischen”......................26 1.3 Conceptual accommodation of the notion of “normative Kraft des Faktischen” within the realm of public international law .........................................30 Preliminary remarks ........................................................................................................32 Chapter 2: Ex factis jus oritur ............................................................................................34 2.1 Content of the notion and its dimensions..............................................................34 2.2 Theoretical considerations.......................................................................................35 2.3 Ex factis jus oritur and the criteria for statehood ................................................38 2.4 The traditional criteria for statehood .....................................................................40 2.4.1 Permanent population ............................................................................................41 2.4.2 Defined territory.....................................................................................................41 2.4.3