ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book. The book focuses on the Kosovar Declaration of Independence, which took place in 2008 and the International Court of Justice decision on this declaration which was rendered in 2011. It discusses the most cited examples of a unilateral act, the Eastern Greenland Case, which occurred in the course of negotiations and then a Court case. The book explores the argument that into the nineteenth century legal doctrine did not distinguish between unilateral acts that were diplomatic or political acts and unilateral acts that had legal implications. It describes that during the nineteenth century this shifted and international law began to treat these acts as legal acts so that by the start of the twentieth century these acts were sometimes considered as consent-based obligations. The book identifies the difficulties that consent presented for legalizing unilateral acts.
