Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Abstract

Who speaks for the state is a critical question in international relations. Statements by government representatives have normative force—capable of binding the state in numerous ways, from norm formation to staking out a litigation position. Governments choose their representatives carefully, and typically vet positions and even statements in advance. Indeed, the stability of international relations hinges on the assumption that state representatives act with governmental authority. The stakes of disputes over who speaks for the state are thus high.

Several such contestations have emerged in recent years, in a variety of international fora. At the United Nations General Assembly, the Credentials Committee has repeatedly deferred determining regarding who represents Afghanistan and Myanmar, but it has left in place representatives previously accredited so they continue to vote and represent the countries in question. In the wake of these deferrals, other UN bodies—including even the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—have taken decisions at variance with the Assembly’s attitude, leading to inconsistent approaches within the UN system. Such questions have also arisen in investment arbitration, as in recent suits against Venezuela where multiple counsel teams have contested the authority to represent the respondent government (on behalf of the rival governments of Maduro and Guaidó).

This contribution explores the panel’s discussion of these cases and others, teasing out the norms, institutions, and politics of deciding contests over representation. Specifically, it covers who speaks for the state in law- and policymaking (Part I), the UN General Assembly (Part II), the ICJ (Part III), and international arbitration (Part IV). Section V briefly concludes.

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Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of American Society of International Law. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited. doi:10.1017/amp.2024.9

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