... 1933, delegates at the 7th International Conference of American States, held in the capital of Uruguay, signed the Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States. Notable among its provisions were these:
The inter-American treaty thus embraced the declaratory theory of statehood, in contrast with the constitutive theory that makes other states' recognition the marker of statehood.
ARTICLE 1
The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: a ) a permanent population; b ) a defined territory; c ) government; and d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.
....
ARTICLE 3
The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states. ...
The Montevideo Convention entered into force exactly 1 year later; the United States was a charter member state. Among the 6 listed members of the U.S. delegation at Montevideo was Dr. Sophonisba Breckinridge (photo credit), a political scientist and attorney profiled in an earlier IntLawGrrls post.
(Prior December 26 posts are here, here, and here.)
