The Institute of International Laws Resolution on State Succession and State Responsibility: Introduction, Text and Commentaries

Marcelo Kohen and Patrick Dumberry explore in an article-by-article commentary the Resolution adopted in 2015 by the Institute of International Law, on state succession in matters of state responsibility. They analyse the content and scope of application of each provision based on a comprehensive survey of existing state practice and judicial decisions (both domestic and international), as well as taking into account the works of scholars and that of the ILC Special Rapporteur in his proposed Draft Articles on the same topic. This book explains the rationale and the reasons behind why the Institute adopted specific solutions to address particular problems of succession to responsibility for each provision, including the need to achieve a fair outcome given the specific circumstances and relevant factors for each case.

Marcelo Kohen is Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where he has been a member of the faculty since 1995. He is a Titular Member of the Institute of International Law, and its Secretary General since 2015. He has worked as legal counsel and advocate for a number of States before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and other tribunals. He also acts as an arbitrator. He has been visiting professor at several European universities, and the author of many publications in the field of International Law, in English, French and Spanish. He was the Rapporteur of the Institut de Droit International on the question of State succession in matters of State responsibility and also co-rapporteur for the International Law Association and the Council of Europe on State succession and State immunity matters. He was awarded the Paul Guggenheim Prize in 1997 for his book Possession contestée et souveraineté territoriale (1997).

Patrick Dumberry is Professor of Law at the University of Ottawa. He practised international arbitration for several years with Lalive in Geneva and Norton Rose in Montreal, as well as with Canada's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He continues to work as counsel and expert in arbitration cases. He is the author of more than sixty publications in international investment law and international law, including five other books: State Succession to International Responsibility (2007); The Fair and Equitable Treatment Standard: A Guide to NAFTA Case Law on Article 1105 (2013); The Formation and Identification of Rules of Customary International Law in International Investment Law (Cambridge, 2016); Fair and Equitable Treatment: Its Interaction with the Minimum Standard and its Customary Status (2018); and A Guide to State Succession in International Investment Law (2018).