State Succession and International Watercourses: the role that the 1978 Vienna Convention and the Case of Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Project could play

Abstract

The existence of international watercourses in the territory where a secession phenomenon occurs brings with it important and specific legal problems related to the succession of States, which this paper deals with: in relation to the membership of international organizations; with respect to the succession of States in respect of State property; and, last but not least, with reference to the succession of States in respect of treaties, particularly in respect of international agreements on international watercourses. With regard to the latter, this paper analyses the argument given by the International Court of Justice in the Case of Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros Project, and reviews the work of the International Law Commission for the purpose of the progressive development of International Law and its codification on the topic of the succession of States; in the hopes that by searching for rules and general principles, solutions could be found for other cases.