State Succession to Debts and Assets: The Modern Law and Policy

When a state dissolves, or when territorial entities of a state break away and become independent states, those states and other members of the international community are faced with a host of legal questions concerning the continuation of the predecessor state’s treaty obligations, succession to the predecessor state’s membership in various international organizations, an the allocation of its debts and assets. This article addresses the legal rules governing the allocation of debts and assets among successor states, and in particular the role of the creditor states in formulating that allocation.