Kosovo and the Pitfalls of Over-theorizing International Law: Observations on Hilpold's Rejoinder

Peter Hilpold's rejoinder certifies that a debate about the legality of the Kosovo Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) would almost inevitably involve an attempt to reconsider the basic characteristics of the international legal system. This is clear from the example of the attempts to claim the legality of that UDI supported by one part of the international community and opposed by the rest of that community, by over-theorizing international law and thus claiming that the Kosovo UDI could be lawful even though it does not comply with the criteria of legality of the emergence of new States. This approach appears to claim that academic lawyers can project the consensual decisions of States to be substituted by their own perceptions.