The Case of Crimea in the Light of International Law: Its Nature and Implications

Abstract

In March 2015, the Polish Academy of Science, the Institute of Law Studies, and the Centre for Polish-Russian Dialogue held a conference entitled The Case of Crimea in the Light of International Law: Its Nature and Implications. The conference took place against the backdrop of the first anniversary of Crimea’s ‘annexation’ / ‘reunification’2 by Russia, providing an opportunity for international legal scholars to discuss the legality of these events.

Over two days, the conference saw around 35 presented papers on issues following five general themes: self-determination and secession; use of force, aggression and armed attack; the international community’s response to the situation in Crimea; non-recognition of unlawful situations; and international state and individual responsibility in the case of Crimea.

The invited academics and practitioners who spoke at the conference came from Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Ukraine, UK and USA.

This review will explore selected presentations on the key issues of selfdetermination, secession, use of force and State responsibility.