Diplomatic recognition in
international law is a unilateral declarative political act of a
state that acknowledges an act or status of another state or government in control of a state (may be also a recognized state). Recognition can be accorded either on a ''
de facto'' or ''
de jure'' basis. Recognition can be a declaration to that effect by the recognizing government or may be implied from an act of recognition, such as entering into a treaty with the other state or making a state visit. Recognition may, but need not, have domestic and international legal consequences. If sufficient countries recognise a particular entity as a state, that state may have a right to membership in multinational organisations, while treaties may require all existing member countries unanimously agreeing to the admission of a new member.
A vote by a country in the United Nations in favour of the membership of another country is an implicit recognition of that country by the country so voting, as only states may be members of the UN. On the other hand, a negative vote for U.N. membership does not necessarily mean non-recognition of the applicant as a state, as other criteria, requirements or special circumstances may be considered relevant for U.N. membership. Similarly, a country may chose not to apply for U.N. membership for its own reasons, as was the case with
the Vatican, and
Switzerland was not a member until 2002 because of its concerns to maintain its neutrality policy.
The non-recognition of particular acts of a state does not normally affect the recognition of the state itself. For example, the international rejection of the occupation of particular territory by a recognised state does not imply non-recognition of the state itself, nor a rejection of a change of government by illegal means.
Recognition of states and governments
Diplomatic recognition must be distinguished from formal recognition of states or their governments. The fact that states do not maintain bilateral diplomatic relations does not mean that they do not recognize or treat one another as states. A state is not required to accord formal bilateral recognition to any other state, and some have a general policy of not doing so, considering that a vote for its membership of an international organisation restricted to states, such as the
United Nations, is an act of recognition.
Some consider that a state has a responsibility not to recognize as a state any entity that has attained the qualifications for statehood by a violation of basic principles of the
UN Charter: the
UN Security Council has in several instances (Resolution 216 (1965) and Resolution 217 (1965), concerning
Rhodesia; Resolution 541 (1983), concerning
Northern Cyprus; and Resolution 787 (1992), concerning the
Republika Srpska) issued Chapter VII resolutions (binding in international law) that denied their statehood and precluded recognition. In the 2010
International Court of Justice advisory opinion on Kosovo's declaration of independence, the
ICJ ruled that "general international law contains no applicable prohibition of declarations of independence." The Court carefully noted "that in all of those instances the Security Council was making a determination as regards the concrete situation existing at the time that those declarations of independence were made; the illegality attached to the declarations of independence thus stemmed not from the unilateral character of these declarations as such, but from the fact that they were, or would have been, connected with the unlawful use of force or other egregious violations of norms of general international law, in particular, those of a peremptory character (jus cogens). In the context of Kosovo, the Security Council has never taken this position. The exceptional character of the resolutions enumerated above appears to the Court to confirm that no general prohibition against unilateral declarations of independence may be inferred from the practice of the Security Council."
States can exercise their recognition powers either explicitly or implicitly. The recognition of a government implies recognition of the state it governs, but even countries which have a policy of formally recognising states may not have a policy of doing the same regarding governments.

''De facto'' recognition of states, rather than ''de jure'', is rare. ''De jure'' recognition is stronger, while ''de facto'' recognition is more tentative and recognizes only that a government exercises control over a territory. An example of the difference is when the
United Kingdom recognized the
Soviet state ''de facto'' in 1921, but ''de jure'' only in 1924. Another example is the state of
Israel in 1948, whose government was immediately recognized ''de facto'' by the
United States and three days later ''de jure'' by
Soviet. Also, the
Republic of China, commonly known as "
Taiwan", is generally recognized as ''de facto'' independent and sovereign, but is not universally recognized as ''de jure'' independent due to the complex
political status of Taiwan related to the United Nation's withdrawal of recognition in favor of the
People's Republic of China in 1971.
Renewing recognition of a government is not necessary when it changes in a normal, constitutional way (such as an
election or
referendum), but may be necessary in the case of a
coup d'etat or
revolution. Recognition of a new government by other states can be important for its long-term survival. For instance, the
Taliban government of the
Islamic State of Afghanistan, which lasted from 1996 to 2001, was recognized only by
Pakistan, the
United Arab Emirates, and
Saudi Arabia, while far more had recognized the government of ousted President
Burhanuddin Rabbani. The
disputed territory of
Jammu and Kashmir of
India is not recognized by either
Pakistan or the
People's Republic of China.
Recognition can be implied by other acts, such as a visit of the
head of state, or the signing of a bilateral treaty. If implicit recognition is possible, a state may feel the need to explicitly proclaim that its acts do not constitute diplomatic recognition, like when the United States commenced its dialogue with the
Palestine Liberation Organization in 1988.
Withdrawal of recognition
A state may withdraw diplomatic recognition of another state or simply refuse to deal with that other country, after withdrawing from all diplomatic relations with that country, such as embassies and consulates, and requiring the other country to do the same. The state will appoint a
protecting power to represent its interests in the other state.
The doctrine of non-recognition of illegal or immoral situations, like territorial gains achieved by
force, is called the
Stimson Doctrine, and has become more important since the
Second World War, especially in the
United Nations where it is a method of ensuring compliance with
international law – for instance, in the case of
Rhodesia in 1965. Withdrawal of recognition of a government is a more severe act of disapproval than the breaking of
diplomatic relations.
Recognition of governments
Besides recognizing other states, states also can recognize the governments of states. This can be problematic particularly when a new government comes to power by illegal means, such as a
coup d'état, or when an existing government stays in power by fixing an election. States once formally recognized both the government of a state and the state itself, but many no longer follow that practice, even though, if diplomatic relations are to be maintained, it is necessary that there be a government with which to engage in diplomatic relations. Countries such as the
United States answer queries over the recognition of governments with the statement: "The question of recognition does not arise: we are conducting our relations with the new government."
Unrecognized state
Several of the world's
geo-political entities lack general international recognition, but wish to be recognized as
sovereign states. The degree of ''de facto'' control these entities exert over the territories they claim varies.
Most are subnational
regions with an
ethnic or
national identity of their own that have
separated from the original parent
state. Such states are commonly referred to as "break-away" states. Some of these entities are in effect internally
self-governing protectorates that enjoy military protection and informal diplomatic representation abroad through another state to prevent forced reincorporation into their original states.
Note that the word "control" in this list refers to ''control'' over the area ''occupied'', not ''occupation'' of the area ''claimed''. Unrecognized countries may have either full control over their occupied territory (such as
Taiwan), or only partial control (such as
Western Sahara). In the former, the ''de jure'' governments have little or no influence in the areas they claim to rule, whereas in the latter they have varying degrees of control, and may provide essential services to people living in the areas.
Other types of recognition
Other elements that may be recognized, include
occupation or
annexation of territory, or
belligerent rights of a party in a conflict. Recognition of the latter does not imply recognition of a state.
Formal recognition of
belligerency, which is rare today, signifies that the parties to the civil war or other internal conflict "are entitled to excise belligerent rights, thus accepting that the rebel group possesses sufficient
international personality to support the position of such rights and duties."
[Gary D. Solis, ''The Law of Armed Conflict: International Humanitarian Law in War'' (2d ed.: Cambridge University Press, 2016), p. 163.] Extension of the rights of belligerency is usually done by other states, rather than by the government fighting the rebel group.
(A 1907 report by
William E. Fuller for the
Spanish Treaty Claims Commission noted that "A parent state never formally recognizes the insurgents as belligerents, although it may in fact treat them as such by carrying on war against them in accordance with the rules and usages of international warfare.")
Examples of recognition of
belligerent status include:
*In 1823, the
United Kingdom recognized the Greek revolutionaries against the
Ottoman Empire as belligerents during the
Greek War of Independence.
*The United Kingdom issued a
proclamation of neutrality soon after the outbreak of the
American Civil War, which "tacitly granted the
Confederacy belligerent status, the right to contract loans and purchase supplies in neutral nations and to exercise belligerent rights on the
high seas."
[Preventing Diplomatic Recognition of the Confederacy, 1861–1865](_blank)
, ''Milestones: 1861–1865'', U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Another right of significance accorded to belligerents that was seen as potentially significant at the time was the right to issue
letters of marque. The British extension of belligerent recognition to the Confederacy greatly angered and concerned the United States, which strenuously and successfully worked to prevent full diplomatic recognition.
*During the
Nicaraguan Civil War, the
Andean Group (
Bolivia,
Colombia,
Ecuador,
Peru, and
Venezuela) "declared that 'a state of belligerency' existed in
Nicaragua and that the forces of the
Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) represented a 'legitimate army.'"
[Gerhard von Glahn & James Larry Taulbee, ''Law Among Nations: An Introduction to Public International Law'', 11th ed. (Taylor & Francis, 2017), p. 167.] The declaration, made over the strong U.S. opposition, stated that the Sandinistas were eligible for "treatment and prerogatives" accorded to belligerents under international law. This declaration allowed the Andean countries to provide arms to the FSLN.
*During the
Salvadoran Civil War,
France and
Mexico recognized the
Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front in
El Salvador as a belligerent in August 1981.
[Sewall H. Menzel, ''Bullets Vs. Ballots: Political Violence and Revolutionary War in El Salvador, 1979–1991'' (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1994), p. 22.]
See also
*
Constitutive theory of statehood
*
Declarative theory of statehood
*
Diplomacy
*
Montevideo Convention
*
International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
*
International relations
*
Jus legationis
*
List of states with limited recognition
*
Micronation
References
* Tozun Bahcheli, Barry Bartmann, and Henry Srebrnik; ''De Facto States: The Quest for Sovereignty ,'' Routledge, (2004
online edition*
*
*
*
* Stefan Talmon; ''Recognition of Governments in International Law: With Particular Reference to Governments in Exile'' Clarendon Press, (1998
online edition* Gregory Weeks; "Almost Jeffersonian: U.S. Recognition Policy toward Latin America," ''Presidential Studies Quarterly,'' Vol. 31, 2001
online edition
{{DEFAULTSORT:Diplomatic Recognition
Category:International law