Repository DOI
Publication Date
2024-08-27
Type
doctoral thesis
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Citation
Abstract
Permanent neutrality is a legal status whereby individual states are bound to remain neutral and adhere to the law of neutrality in all circumstances wherein that body of law is applicable. Permanently neutral states must also comply with certain peacetime duties in order to ensure that their neutrality during future conflicts remains possible. From the recognition of the permanent neutrality of Switzerland by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to the modern day, permanent neutrality has been a constant feature of the international stage. It is thus curious that the issue has remained largely underexplored in mainstream contemporary international law scholarship. Even while the law of neutrality has seen renewed attention in recent years,1 permanent neutrality has been overlooked. For example, permanent neutrality has been largely absent from the recent resurgence in scholarly attention and debates on the law of neutrality during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.2 The concept has thus, at least in the English-speaking world, been largely relegated to the musty pages of 19th and 20th century scholarship. Alternatively, permanent neutrality receives, at best, a brief mention in larger studies on neutrality, war, and international law.3 This thesis endeavours to reintroduce permanent neutrality into the contemporary world of international legal scholarship, and to situate it back alongside the law of neutrality as a topic deserving of academic study. This thesis is therefore orientated around the following research questions: (i) (ii) (iii) how is the permanent neutrality of states established, and how does it come to an end; what is the effect of permanently neutral status on states other than the permanently neutral state; and what are the rights and duties of permanently neutral states during both wartime and peacetime?
Publisher
University of Galway
Publisher DOI
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International