The role of good faith in the law of state succession in respect of treaties

The last two decades of our century have been characterized by a wave of political and territorial changes in Eastern Europe and the Pacific which has virtually reshaped the world map. New states have been born and old states have become extinct. This historical evolution has revived the interest of international lawyers on the applicable legal rules in cases of state succession.;The present dissertation examines the most important repercussions of state succession which are the treaty relations between old states and successor states. It analyzes old theories and norms and taxonomizes the cases of state succession on a new basis. It also presents and criticizes the most important provisions of the 1978 Vienna Convention on the Law of State Succession in Respect of Treaties. Most important however, the present dissertation focuses on the role of good faith in this area of international law and concludes that states often base their actions and positions on the issue of treaty continuity following good faith standards. These standards are given new meaning, scope and application and in essence reform the definition of good faith in the area of international law. The conclusion not only enumerates all the well established principles of law but also describes and proposes de lege ferenda rules that may provide workable solutions in difficult cases of state succession in the future.