Berkes: International Law and De-Occupation Legislation

Antal Berkes (Univ. of Liverpool - Law) has posted International Law and De-Occupation Legislation (Rutgers International Law and Human Rights Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Recently, various States elaborated constitutional laws on the status and reintegration of parts of their territory under military occupation. “De-occupation” is understood as the (purported or actual) takeover of effective control over a temporarily occupied territory by the territorial State having the sovereign title over the area. After de-occupation, the classical concept of postliminium holds that it is a matter for domestic law to determine what legal status, rights, and duties shall attach to inhabitants, territory, and personal property restored to the jurisdiction of a State. As a main rule, contemporary international law still maintains this view: any measure carried out by the occupying power does not survive unless the territorial State so wishes. However, due to its expansion, international law restricts postliminium by requiring the territorial State to allow certain legal effects of the occupant’s acts and policies, and to enhance local ownership in the de-occupied territory. By analysing the international obligations and domestic law of Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Azerbaijan, selected as case studies on actual or prospective de-occupation, the paper identifies certain rules of international law that require the territorial State to enact its domestic law with a view to humanize and democratize transition.