Alternative Solutions to Preserve the Sovereignty of Atoll Island States

Abstract

toll Island States could face the future challenge of attempting to preserve their statehood after completely losing their current territory and population. Discussions on how this problem could be solved often focus on attempts to preserve the elements of statehood required by the 1933 Montevideo Convention. Typically the solutions that have been proposed try to repair the lack of one of these elements, such as the possibility of another State ceding some territory, the building of artificial islands, or the merger with another State. However, there are historical and contemporary precedents of sovereign entities which have survived without all the elements required by the Montevideo Convention. The chapter will argue that since the recognition of a State as such requires a blend of both law and politics, the same will be necessary to assure the continuity of statehood of Atoll Island States. In order to discuss this continuity, the constitutive and declarative theories of statehood will be examined. Once an Atoll Island State has lost one of the elements of statehood required by the Montevideo Convention statehood continuity could rely on the constitutive theory, despite it generally being related to the birth of States. The recognition by other subjects of international law of the continuity of statehood of Atoll Island States can have a reparative function for the lack of territory and population. Thus, statehood continuity is not necessarily linked to the maintenance of all the elements of statehood required by the Montevideo Convention.