Montevideo Convention

The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States was a treaty signed at Montevideo? on 26 December 1933, at the Seventh International Conference of American States. The convention was signed by 19 states, 3 with reservations.

Article 1 sets out the criteria for statehood:

The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

The remaining articles set out various rights and duties of states.

The Montevideo is a regional American convention; but the principles contained in this article have been generally recognized as an accurate statement of customary international law. However, some have questioned whether these criteria are sufficent.