Montevideo Convention

{{Infobox Treaty

| name = Montevideo Convention

| long_name = Convention on the Rights and Duties of States

| image =Montevideo Convention parties.svg

| image_width = 250px

| caption =Ratifications and signatories of the treaty

| type =

| date_drafted =

| date_signed = December 26, 1933

| location_signed = Montevideo, Uruguay

| date_sealed =

| date_effective = December 26, 1934

| condition_effective =

| date_expiration =

| signatories = 20

| parties = 17 (as of November 2021)

| depositor = Pan American Union

| language =

| languages = English, French, Spanish and Portuguese

| website =

| wikisource = Montevideo Convention

}}

The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States is a treaty signed at Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 26, 1933, during the Seventh International Conference of American States.{{Cite web |url=https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100005689 |url-access= |title=Convention on Rights and Duties of States |author1=Staff writer |year=2024 |department=UIA Global Civil Society Database |website=uia.org |publisher=Union of International Associations |agency=Yearbook of International Organizations Online |location=Brussels, Belgium |format= |arxiv= |asin= |bibcode= |doi= |doi-broken-date= |isbn= |issn= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |oclc= |ol= |osti= |pmc= |pmid= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |id= |access-date=12 January 2025 |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |via= |quote= |trans-quote= |ref= |postscript=}} At the conference, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull declared the Good Neighbor Policy, which opposed U.S. armed intervention in inter-American affairs. The convention was signed by 19 states. The acceptance of three of the signatories was subject to minor reservations. Those states were Brazil, Peru and the United States.{{cite book|author=Hersch Lauterpacht|title=Recognition in International Law|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EWgEv1Qq2TwC&pg=PA419|year=2012|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=419|isbn=9781107609433}}

The convention became operative on December 26, 1934. It was registered in the League of Nations Treaty Series on January 8, 1936.{{Cite web|url=http://www.worldlii.org/int/other/treaties/LNTSer/1936/9.html|title=United States of America - Convention on Rights and Duties of States adopted by the Seventh International Conference of American States, Signed at Montevideo, December 26th, 1933 [1936] LNTSer 9; 165 LNTS 19|website=www.worldlii.org|pages=20–43}}

The conference is notable in U.S. history, since one of the U.S. representatives was Dr. Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge, the first U.S. female representative at an international conference.[https://archive.org/details/fromcolonytosupe00herr/page/499 From colony to superpower: U.S. foreign relations since 1776], by George C. Herring, Oxford University Press, 2008, p. 499. Online at Google Books. Retrieved 2011-09-20.

Background

In most cases, the only avenue open to self-determination for colonial or national ethnic minority populations was to achieve international legal personality as a nation-state.[http://www.harvardilj.org/attach.php?id=42 The Postcoloniality of International Law, Harvard International Law Journal, Volume 46, Number 2, Summer 2005, Sundhya Pahuja, page 5] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205215653/http://www.harvardilj.org/attach.php?id=42 |date=2009-02-05 }} The majority of delegations at the International Conference of American States represented independent states that had emerged from former colonies. In most cases, their own existence and independence had been disputed or opposed by one or more of the European colonial empires. They agreed among themselves to criteria that made it easier for other dependent states with limited sovereignty to gain international recognition.{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Contents of the convention

Article 1 sets out the criteria for statehood:

{{Quote|The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.}}

The first sentence of Article 3 states that "the political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states." This is known as the declarative theory of statehood. It stands in contrast with the constitutive theory of statehood, by which a state exists only insofar as it is recognized by other states. It should not be confused with the Estrada doctrine. "Independence" and "sovereignty" are not mentioned in article 1.see for example [https://books.google.com/books?id=LQCgNzL3RJQC&pg=PA110&dq=&ei=5uyESebICJr2McXMpIoI&client=#PPA110,M1 State Failure, Sovereignty and Effectiveness, Legal Lessons from the Decolonization of Sub-Saharan Africa, Gerard Kreijen, Published by Martinus Nijhoff, 2004], {{ISBN|90-04-13965-6}}, page 110

An important part of the convention was a prohibition of using military force to gain sovereignty. According to Article 11 of the convention,

{{Quote|The contracting states definitely establish the rule of their conduct the precise obligation not to recognize territorial acquisitions or advantages that have been obtained by force whether this consists in the employment of arms, in threatening diplomatic representations, or in any other effective coercive measure}}

Parties

[[File:Montevideo Convention parties.svg|right|400px|thumb|

Parties to the Montevideo Convention

]]

The 17 states that have ratified this convention are limited to the Americas.

class="wikitable sortable"

! State{{cite web|url=http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/a-40.html|title=A-40: Convention on Rights and Duties of States|access-date=2013-07-23|publisher=Organization of American States}}{{cite web|url=http://treaties.un.org/pages/showDetails.aspx?objid=0800000280166aef|title=Convention on Rights and Duties of States adopted by the Seventh International Conference of American States|access-date=2015-11-16|publisher=United Nations Treaty Series, Registration Number:3802}}

! Signed

! Deposited

! Method

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1937|Feb|23}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1935|Mar|28}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1936|Jul|22}}

| Ratification

{{flag|Costa Rica|state 1906}}{{efn|The Organization of American States' database lists Costa Rica as signing the treaty, but the treaty does not include a signature by Costa Rica.}}

| {{dts|1937|Sep|28}}

| Accession

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1936|Apr|28}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1934|Dec|26}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1936|Oct|3}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1937|Jan|9}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1935|Jun|12}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1941|Aug|13}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1937|Dec|1}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1936|Jan|27}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1937|Jan|8}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1938|Nov|13}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|2018|Sep|7}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1934|Jul|13}}

| Ratification

| {{dts|1933|Dec|26}}

| {{dts|1940|Feb|13}}

| Ratification

;Notes

A further three states signed the convention on 26 December 1933, but have not ratified it.{{cite web|url=http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/intam03.asp|title=Convention on the Rights and Duties of States|access-date=2013-07-23|publisher=Yale}}

{{div col|colwidth=10em|content=

{{flag|Argentina}}
{{flag|Peru|1825}}
{{flag|Uruguay}}

}}

The only state to attend the Seventh International Conference of American States, where the convention was agreed upon, which did not sign it was Bolivia. Costa Rica, which did not attend the conference, later signed the convention.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tccRqha7894C|title=Encyclopedia of the Inter-American System|date=1997-01-01|access-date=2013-07-23|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=287|quote=Delegations from twenty states participated - from the United States and all those in Latin America except Costa Rica (provision was made for Costa Rica to later sign the conventions and treaties presented in the conference).|isbn=9780313286001}}

Analysis

The Montevideo Convention codified several existing legal norms and principles, which apply to all subjects of international law.Harris, D.J. (ed) 2004 "Cases and Materials on International Law" 6th Ed. at p. 99. Sweet and Maxwell, London{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uGMxfj4oedEC&pg=PA77|title=International Law and Self-Determination: The Interplay of the Politics of Territorial Possession With Formulations of Post-Colonial National Identity|pages=77|year=2000|last=Castellino|first=Joshua|publisher=Martinus Nijhoff Publishers|isbn=9041114092}}{{better source needed|date=July 2024}}

The Badinter Committee,The Badinter Arbitration Committee (full title), named for its chair, ruled on the question of whether the Republics of Croatia, Macedonia, and Slovenia, who had formally requested recognition by the members of the European Union and by the EU itself, had met conditions specified by the Council of Ministers of the European Community on December 16, 1991. {{cite web|url=http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol3/No1/art12.html |title=The Opinions of the Badinter Arbitration Committee: A Second Breath for the Self-Determination of Peoples |access-date=2012-05-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517085252/http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol3/No1/art12.html|archive-date=2008-05-17}} which consisted of arbitrators from several European countries, considered a state as having a territory, population, and organised political authority and that the existence of states was a question of fact, while the recognition by other states was purely declaratory.{{cite journal |title=Opinion No.1 |journal=International Law Reports |date=January 1993 |volume=92 |pages=162–166 |doi=10.1017/CBO9781316152195.002 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-law-reports/article/abs/opinion-no1/08D0CCF726116E399A0BD66DA2D38F3F |language=en |issn=0309-0671|url-access=subscription }}

Switzerland adheres to the same principle, stating that "neither a political unit needs to be recognized to become a state, nor does a state have the obligation to recognize another one. At the same time, neither recognition is enough to create a state, nor does its absence abolish it."Switzerland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, DFA, Directorate of International Law: "Recognition of States and Governments," 2005.{{Verify quote|date=October 2024|type=|text=This URL may be helpful: https://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/fdfa/fdfa/organisation-fdfa/directorates-divisions/directorate-international-law.html}}

Actual state practices do not follow the Montevideo Convention exactly. While they play an important role, fulfilling its criteria do not automatically create a state because additional requirements must be met. The status of countries such as Kosovo and Somaliland largely depends on the recognition or non-recognition by other states.{{cite web |last1=Akande |first1=Dapo |title=The Importance of Legal Criteria for Statehood: A Response to Jure Vidmar |url=https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-importance-of-legal-criteria-for-statehood-a-response-to-jure-vidmar/ |website=EJIL: Talk! |language=English |date=7 August 2013}}

References

External links

[https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/LON/Volume%20165/v165.pdf Original text at UN Treaties Series], Registration Number: 3802
[http://www.taiwanbasic.com/taipei/times/ttimes1203.htm Searching for a symbol] The Montevideo Convention and Taiwan/ROC

Category:History of Montevideo

Category:1933 in the United States

Category:Interwar-period treaties

Category:Treaties concluded in 1933

Category:Treaties entered into force in 1934

Category:Treaties of Argentina

Category:Treaties of Vargas-era Brazil

Category:Treaties of Chile

Category:Treaties of Colombia

Category:Treaties of Cuba

Category:Treaties of the Dominican Republic

Category:Treaties of Ecuador