Recognition of governments and state representation in international law: The case of Venezuela

Recognition is a unilateral international legal act in which a subject of international law declares that it accepts a situation as lawful and valid, and will conduct its relations based on this acceptance. Recognition, being a unilateral act, is one of the most debated issues in international law. Recognition of states and recognition of governments may be closely related acts; however, they are not identical. Generally, a change in government does not affect the existence and continuity of the state. Therefore, there is no established international legal practice for other states to recognize the new government in normal circumstances of changing governments. However, the issue of recognizing governments may arise in extraordinary circumstances and methods such as military intervention, unconstitutional practices, the use of armed forces, and/or foreign state intervention leading to a change in government. The concept of recognition is both political and legal. The issue of recognizing governments came to the forefront again after the presidential crisis in Venezuela in 2019 and was considered in many foreign domestic courts and international arbitration proceedings to which Venezuela is a party. This study will examine the recognition of states and governments in international law, and the impact of recognition in foreign and international judicial bodies, using the example of Venezuela.