Abstract
Arman Sarvarian’s The Law of State Succession: Principles and Practice provides a comprehensive, practical, and empirical overview of the topic, establishing State succession as a distinct field with a cohesive set of rules. From the secession of the United States of America in 1784 to that of South Sudan in 2011, the book digests and analyses State practice spanning more than two centuries. It is based on research into a wide and diverse range of case studies, including archival and previously unpublished data. It reconstructs the intellectual foundation of the field to offer a vision for its progressive development that is rooted in an interpretation of State practice that transcends the politics of the codification projects in the decolonization and desovietization eras. The book examines international law on State succession with respect to territorial rights and obligations, State property (including archives) and debt, treaties, international claims and responsibility, and nationality and private property (including concessions and investments). Its central focus is the identification of the general rules of international law to guide the States concerned in the negotiation of succession agreements, interpret ambiguous or incomplete provisions, and regulate a succession in default of specific agreement. A highly relevant work, The Law of State Succession: Principles and Practice offers governments, judges, legal practitioners, and scholars an authoritative account of the current law. It enables negotiators to identify the legal options regarding succession issues and assists adjudicators in interpreting provisions of succession agreements and to regulate questions omitted from such agreements.