Rocznik_2014-215

Tomasz Stępniewski, Tomasz Olejarz
Is Kosovo a Precedent
Legal and International Dilemmas
of the Unilateral Declaration
of Independence of the Kosovo Republic
Abstract: On 17 th February 2008, the parliamentary body of the temporary authorities
of Kosovo adopted a Declaration of Independence and proclaimed
that Kosovo should be recognized as an “independent and sovereign country”.
At present, 106 countries recognize Kosovo as an independent country
(as for 2 nd July, 2014). The political dilemmas of the countries of the international
community, including the requirement of a legal assessment of the
consequences of the unilateral Declaration of Independence of the Kosovo
Republic, referred, in fact, to the need to take a stance towards the meaning of
and the mutual relations between the basic rules and principles and the institutions
of modern international law (ius inter gentes), in particular the problem
of setting a precedent in terms of intrastate and international law, respecting
the rules of the territorial integrity of states, and issues such as the autonomy
of nations, the institution of territorial secession and the recognition of states
by other states.
Keywords: Kosovo, Western Balkans, international law, independence, precedent.
1.
The problem of precedent as exemplified
by Kosovo’s Declaration of Independence
On 17 th February 2008, the parliamentary body of the temporary authorities
of Kosovo adopted a Declaration of Independence and proclaimed
that Kosovo should be recognized as “an independent and
sovereign country” 1 . The case above resulted in an actual polarization
of the standpoints of other countries as to its legal validity. As a result,
1 More in: P. Hilpold (ed.), Kosovo and International Law, The ICJ Advisory Opinion of 22 July 2010,
Leiden 2012.