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Last update: April 19, 2024

Analytical Guide to the Work of the International Law Commission

Succession of States in respect of State responsibility

See also: Summary | Texts and Instruments

Mandate

Studies undertaken by the Secretariat and Reports of the Secretary-General

  • 71st session of the International Law Commission (2019)
    • Memorandum prepared by the Secretariat

Reports of the Working Group or Sub-Committee

  • 74th session of the International Law Commission (2023)
    • Oral report of the Working Group
 

Reports of the Special Rapporteur

  • Overview of previous work of the Commission. Discussion whether there exists a general principle guiding succession in respect of State responsibility? Review of different cases of succession. Consideration of whether any rules in the two Vienna Conventions on succession apply? Discussion of nature of the rules to be codified and the relevance of agreements and unilateral declarations, and overview of future programme of work.
    • First Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Pavel Šturma (69th session of the ILC (2017))
  • Outline of general approach (methodology) to the topic. Discussion of the legality of succession. Review of general rules on succession of States in respect of State responsibility, particularly in relation to attribution and in relation to the difference between continuing and completed breaches. Discussion of cases of succession where the predecessor State continues to exist and cases of succession where the predecessor State does not exist. Overview of future programme of work.
    • Second Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Pavel Šturma (70th session of the ILC (2018))
  • Overview of the work on the topic. Analysis of reparation for injury resulting from internationally wrongful acts committed against the predecessor State, as well as reparation for injury arising from internationally wrongful acts committed against the nationals of the predecessor State. Proposals for draft articles 2 and X.
    • Third Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Pavel Šturma (71st session of the ILC (2019))
  • Overview of the work on the topic. Analysis of the impact of succession of States on forms of responsibility: (a) general issues; (b) problems arising in relation to different forms of reparation; and (c) cessation and non-repetition. Future work on the topic. Proposals for draft articles 7bis, 16, 17, 18 and 19.
    • Fourth Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Pavel Šturma (72nd session of the ILC (2021))
  • Overview of the work on the topic. Analysis of plurality of States in respect of responsibility in cases of State succession: (a) plurality of injured successor States; (b) plurality of responsible successor States; and (c) particular aspects of plurality of States in cases of continuing or composite acts. Consolidation and restructuring of the draft articles. Future work on the topic.
    • Fifth Report of the Special Rapporteur, Mr. Pavel Šturma (73rd session of the ILC (2022))

Reports of the Drafting Committee

 
 
  • 71st session of the International Law Commission (2019)
    • Text of the draft articles as provisionally adopted so far by the Drafting Committee
    • Interim report by the Chair of the Drafting Committee
  • 72nd session of the International Law Commission (2021)
    • Text of draft articles 10, 10 bis and 11 provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee
    • Statement by the Chair of the Drafting Committee
  • 73rd session of the International Law Commission (2022)
    • Text of draft guidelines 6, 7 bis, 10, 10 bis, 11, 12, 13, 13 bis, 14, 15 and 15 bis as provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee
    • Statement by the Chair of the Drafting Committee

Comments by Governments

 
 
 
 

Other

None

Reports of the International Law Commission

  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its sixty-ninth session, 1 May–2 June and 3 July–4 August 2017
    • The Commission had before it the first report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/708).
    • The Commission considered the first report at its 3374th to 3381st meetings, from 13 to 25 July 2017, respectively.
    • At its 3381st meeting, on 25 July 2017, the Commission decided to refer draft articles 1 to 4, as contained in the Special Rapporteur’s first report, to the Drafting Committee, taking into account the views expressed in the plenary debate and on the understanding that draft articles 3 and 4 would be left pending in the Drafting Committee.
    • At its 3383rd meeting, on 31 July 2017, the Chair of the Drafting Committee presented an interim oral report on draft articles 1 and 2, provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee. The report was presented for information only and was made available on the website of the Commission.
    • Discussion in Plenary: 3374th, 3375th, 3376th, 3377th, 3378th, 3379th, 3380th, 3381st (13 to 25 July 2017), 3383rd (31 July 2017) meetings.
  • ILC Report, A/72/10, 2017, chap. IX, paras. 211–252
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/713)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventieth session, 30 April–1 June and 2 July–10 August 2018
    • The Commission had before it the second report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/719), which was considered at its 3431st to 3435th meetings, from 17 to 24 July 2018.
    • At its 3435th meeting, on 24 July 2018, the Commission decided to refer draft articles 5 to 11, as contained in the Special Rapporteur’s second report, to the Drafting Committee, taking into account the views expressed in the plenary debate.
    • At its 3443rd meeting, on 3 August 2018, the Chair of the Drafting Committee presented an interim oral report on draft article 1, paragraph 2, and draft articles 5 and 6, provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee. The report was presented for information only.
    • At its 3451st meeting, on 9 August 2018, the Commission decided to request from the Secretariat a memorandum providing information on treaties which may be of relevance to its future work on the topic.
  • Discussion in Plenary: 3431st, 3432nd, 3433rd, 3434th, 3435th (17 to 24 July 2018), 3443rd (3 August 2018), and 3451st (9 August 2018) meetings.
  • ILC Report, A/73/10, 2018, chap. X, paras. 219–266
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/724)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventy-first session, 29 April–7 June and 8 July–9 August 2019
    • The Commission had before it the third report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/731). The Commission also had before it a memorandum by the Secretariat providing information on treaties which may be of relevance to its future work on the topic (A/CN.4/730).
    • The Commission considered the third report of the Special Rapporteur at its 3475th to 3480th meetings, from 8 to 15 July 2019.
    • At its 3480th meeting, on 15 July 2019, the Commission decided to refer draft articles 2, paragraph (f), X, Y, 12, 13, 14 and 15, and the titles of Part Two and Part Three, as contained in the third report of the Special Rapporteur, to the Drafting Committee, taking into account the views expressed in the plenary debate.
    • At its 3489thmeeting, on 24July 2019, the Commission considered a first report of the Drafting Committee on the topic and provisionally adopted draft articles 1, 2 and 5, which had been provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the sixty-ninth and seventieth sessions.
    • At its 3495thmeeting, on 31 July2019, the Chair of the Drafting Committee presented an interim report on draft articles 7, 8 and 9, provisionally adopted by the Committee at the present session. The report was presented for information only. The Commission took note of the draft articles as presented by the Drafting Committee.
    • At its 3507thmeeting, on 9 August2019, the Commission adopted the commentaries to draft articles 1, 2 and 5.
  • Discussion in Plenary: 3475th, 3476th, 3477th, 3478th, 3479th and 3480th meetings (from 8 to 15 July 2019), 3489th and 3495th (24 and 31 July 2019) and 3507th (9 August 2019) meetings.
  • ILC Report, A/74/10, 2019, chap. VII, paras. 72–118
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/734)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventy-second session, 26 April–4 June and 5 July–6 August 2021
    • At the present session, the Commission had before it the fourth report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/743 + Corr.1). In his report, composed of three parts, the Special Rapporteur provided an overview of the work on the topic, which included a summary of the debate in the Sixth Committee and an explanation of the methodology of the report (Part One). The Special Rapporteur then addressed questions related to the impact of succession of States on forms of responsibility, in particular different forms of reparation (restitution, compensation and satisfaction), the obligation of cessation and assurances and guarantees of non-repetition (Part Two). Lastly, the Special Rapporteur discussed the future programme of work on the topic (Part Three). Five new draft articles (draft articles 7 bis, 16, 17, 18 and 19) were proposed in the report.
    • At its 3528th meeting, on 21 May 2021, the Commission provisionally adopted draft articles 7, 8 and 9, which had been provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the seventy-first session (2019).
    • The Commission considered the fourth report of the Special Rapporteur at its 3531st to 3537th meetings, from 5 to 12 July 2021. At its 3537th meeting, on 12 July 2021, the Commission decided to refer draft articles 7 bis, 16, 17, 18 and 19, as contained in the fourth report of the Special Rapporteur, to the Drafting Committee, taking into account the views expressed in the plenary debate.
    • At its 3552nd meeting, on 28 July 2021, the Chair of the Drafting Committee presented an interim report on draft articles 10, 10 bis and 11, provisionally adopted by the Committee at the present session. The interim report was presented for information only.
    • At its 3560th to 3562nd meetings, on 4 and 5 August 2021, the Commission adopted the commentaries to draft articles 7, 8 and 9 provisionally adopted at the present session.
  • Discussion in Plenary: 3528th (21 May 2021), 3531st, 3532nd, 3533rd, 3534th, 3535th, 3536th, 3537th (5 to 12 July 2021), 3552nd (28 July 2021), 3560th, 3561st, and 3562nd (4 and 5 August 2021) meetings.
  • ILC Report, A/76/10, 2021, chap. VII, paras. 116–165
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/746)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventy-third session, 18 April to 3 June and from 4 July to 5 August 2022
    • The Commission had before it the fifth report of the Special Rapporteur (A/CN.4/751).
    • The Commission considered the fifth report at its 3579th to 3583rd meetings, from 11 to 17 May 2022.
    • At its 3583rd meeting, on 17 May 2022, the Commission decided, on the recommendation of the Special Rapporteur, to instruct the Drafting Committee to proceed with the preparation of draft guidelines on the basis of the provisions previously referred to the Drafting Committee (including those provisions provisionally adopted by the Commission at previous sessions), taking into account the debate held in the plenary on the Special Rapporteur’s fifth report.
    • At its 3593rd meeting, on 14 July 2022, the Commission considered the report of the Drafting Committee on the topic (A/CN.4/L.970), and provisionally adopted draft guidelines 6, 10, 10 bis and 11, which had been provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee in 2018 and 2021, respectively, as well as draft guidelines 7 bis, 12, 13, 13 bis, 14, 15 and 15 bis, which were provisionally adopted by the Drafting Committee at the present session. As a result of the change of form of the outcome, the Commission also took note of draft articles 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9, as revised by the Drafting Committee to be draft guidelines. It also took note that the Special Rapporteur had provided revised commentaries on an informal basis for draft guidelines 1, 2, 5, 7, 8 and 9 to assist the Commission in its future work on this topic.
    • At its 3605th to 3611th meetings, from 29 July to 4 August 2022, the Commission adopted the commentaries to draft guidelines 6, 7 bis, 10, 10 bis, 11, 12, 13, 13 bis, 14, 15 and 15 bis.
  • Discussion in Plenary: 3579th, 3580th, 3581st, 3582nd, 3583rd (11 to 17 May 2022), 3593rd (14 July 2022), 3605th, 3606th, 3607th, 3608th, 3609th, 3610th and 3611th (29 July to 4 August 2022) meetings.
  • ILC Report, A/77/10, 2022, chap. VII, paras. 70–88
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/755)
  • Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its seventy-fourth session, 24 April to 2 June and from 3 July to 4 August 2023
    • The Commission established a Working Group on the topic, chaired by Mr. August Reinisch, in order to consider the way forward in relation to the topic. Upon receiving the oral report of the Working Group, the Commission took note of the Working Group’s recommendations, inter alia, that the Commission should not proceed with the appointment of a new Special Rapporteur, and that the Working Group should be re-established at the seventy-fifth session with a view to undertaking further reflection, and making a recommendation, on the way forward for the topic.
  • Discussion in Plenary: 3621st (10 May 2023), 3648th (27 July 2023) and 3655th (3 August 2023) meetings.
  • ILC Report, A/78/10, 2023, chap. IX, paras. 231–246

General Assembly Action

  • Resolution 72/116 of 7 December 2017
    • Took note of the decision of the International Law Commission to include the topic in its programme of work.
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly
  • Resolution 74/186 of 18 December 2019
    • Drew the attention of Governments to the importance for the International Law Commission of having their views by 31 December 2019 on the various aspects of the topics on the agenda of the Commission, in particular on all the specific issues identified in chapter III of its report, regarding succession of States in respect of State responsibility.
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/734)
  • Resolution 75/135 of 15 December 2020
    • Drew the attention of Governments to the importance for the International Law Commission of having their views by 31 December 2020 on the various aspects of the topics on the agenda of the Commission, in particular on all the specific issues identified in chapter III of its report, including succession of States in respect of State responsibility.
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/734/Add.1)
  • Resolution 76/111 of 9 December 2021
    • Drew the attention of Governments to the importance for the International Law Commission of having their views by 31 December 2021 on the various aspects of the topics on the agenda of the Commission, in particular on all the specific issues identified in chapter III of its report, including succession of States in respect of State responsibility.
  • See the website of the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly and the topical summary of debate in the Sixth Committee (A/CN.4/746)

Final Outcome

Work in progress