Non-state effective territorial entities: A critical appraisal of international legal capacity and responsibility

International law is constantly confronted with the question of what to do with non-state effective territorial entities, i.e. territories that ‘look and feel’ like states, but are not states as we understand them under international law. Despite not being states, their actions may have significant consequences from humanitarian, social, political and economic perspectives. This dissertation sought to determine the legal status of non-state effective territorial entities from the perspective of legal capacity and responsibility, and some of the practical effects of distinguishing these entities from states. It adopted a territory-based structure, in which practical studies of four ‘situation territories’ were conducted in distinct chapters. The four situation territories studied were Crimea, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, Somaliland and Taiwan. The aim was to show that these problems do not exist merely in theory but that they pose real challenges that undermine the foundations of international law.