313 / 350
JURIDICAL DAYS IN OLOMOUC
JURIDICAL DAYS IN OLOMOUC, 9. –10. 5. 2013
The “life” of Public international law obtains its features not only in its worldwide
framework but it is also shaped through thousands of separate elements of higher or lower
importance and relevance, worth being commemorated or not. The 20
th
anniversary of
the formation of the independent Czech Republic after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia
is definitely one of these elements worth being remembered in the context of international
law. For these purposes a special project examining the formation and dissolution of state
in the international legal perspective is being conducted in 2013 at Palacký University in
Olomouc, Faculty of Law (Czech Republic). An international conference on this issue
was one of the outcomes of the project.
The scientific conference on
“International law aspects of the formation and
dissolution of the state, or the 20
th
anniversary of the formation of an independent
Czech Republic”
was organized in May 2013 as part of the Olomouc Juridical Days,
a traditional scientific event focusing on current legal issues. Some 30 participants
from academy and practice from the Czech Republic and Slovakia gathered for two
days to discuss the broad variety of aspects and legal challenges concerned with
questions of the formation of new states in international law.
On 9 May the meeting started with a presentation dealing with general issues
of the formation of new states, their rights and obligations under the international
legal order, questions of dissolution and succession, taking as an example the
Czechoslovakian secession. The next presentation focused on the problem of so
called
de facto
regimes which enshrine many of the elements of statehood but are
nevertheless not accepted by the international community as states (
e.g.
Abkhazia,
Southern Ossetia, Transdniestria). This raised many questions about the position of
government in the state and its recognition by the international community. One of
such question was addressed in detail by a presentation concerning the recognition
of national liberation movements, their legal personality and the role it plays in
modern international law. The conference, however, also addressed the topic of the
dissolution of states, which has been debated extensively. Two presentations served as
a basis for the debate: the first focusing on the issue of the secession which took place
in several regions in the world at the end of the XX
th
century or in the beginning
of XXI
st
century; the second dealing with the issue of succession of property abroad
based on the example of the Yugoslavian mausoleum in Olomouc. Especially the
last mentioned presentation highlighted the practical aspects of state succession
which can occur in a local context. In the case of the almost forgotten Yugoslavian
mausoleum in Olomouc, the fact that it is a state property for specific (funeral)
purposes and none of the successor states of socialist Yugoslavia acknowledge it as
its possession brings up a lot of questions about treatment and maintenance. The
first panel was closed by presentations dealing with a topic which is currently heavily
debated in the international community and the academy as well – namely what are the