114 Report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-third session 2. No State shall recognize as lawful a situation created by a serious breach within the meaning of article 40, nor render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation. 3. This article is without prejudice to the other consequences referred to in this Part and to such further consequences that a breach to which this chapter applies may entail under international law. Commentary (1) Article 41 sets out the particular consequences of breaches of the kind and gravity referred to in article 40. It consists of three paragraphs. The first two prescribe special legal obligations of States faced with the commission of “serious breaches” in the sense of article 40, the third takes the form of a saving clause. (2) Pursuant to paragraph 1 of article 41, States are under a positive duty to cooperate in order to bring to an end serious breaches in the sense of article 40. Because of the diversity of circumstances which could possibly be involved, the provision does not prescribe in detail what form this cooperation should take. Cooperation could be organized in the framework of a competent international organization, in particular the United Nations. However, paragraph 1 also envisages the possibility of non-institutionalized cooperation. (3) Neither does paragraph 1 prescribe what measures States should take in order to bring to an end serious breaches in the sense of article 40. Such cooperation must be through lawful means, the choice of which will depend on the circumstances of the given situation. It is, however, made clear that the obligation to cooperate applies to States whether or not they are individually affected by the serious breach. What is called for in the face of serious breaches is a joint and coordinated effort by all States to counteract the effects of these breaches. It may be open to question whether general international law at present prescribes a positive duty of cooperation, and paragraph 1 in that respect may reflect the progressive development of international law. But in fact such cooperation, especially in the framework of international organizations, is carried out already in response to the gravest breaches of international law and it is often the only way of providing an effective remedy. Paragraph 1 seeks to strengthen existing mechanisms of cooperation, on the basis that all States are called upon to make an appropriate response to the serious breaches referred to in article 40. (4) Pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 41, States are under a duty of abstention, which comprises two obligations, first, not to recognize as lawful situations created by serious breaches in the sense of article 40 and, secondly, not to render aid or assistance in maintaining that situation. (5) The first of these two obligations refers to the obligation of collective non-recognition by the international community as a whole of the legality of situations resulting directly from serious breaches in the sense of article 40.652 The obligation applies to “situations” created by these breaches, such as, for example, attempted acquisition of sovereignty over territory through the denial of the right of self-determination of peoples. It not only refers to the formal recognition of these situations, but also prohibits acts which would imply such recognition. (6) The existence of an obligation of non-recognition in response to serious breaches of obligations arising under peremptory norms already finds support in international practice and in decisions of ICJ. The principle that territorial acquisitions brought about by the use of force are not valid and must not be recognized found a clear expression during the Manchurian crisis of 1931–1932, when the Secretary of State, Henry Stimson, declared that the United States of America—joined by a large majority of members of the League of Nations—would not: admit the legality of any situation de facto nor ... recognize any treaty or agreement entered into between those Governments, or agents thereof, which may impair the ... sovereignty, the independence or the territorial and administrative integrity of the Republic of China, ... [nor] recognize any situation, treaty or agreement which may be brought about by means contrary to the covenants and obligations of the Pact of Paris of August 27, 1928.653 The Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations affirms this principle by stating unequivocally that States shall not recognize as legal any acquisition of territory brought about by the use of force.654 As ICJ held in Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua, the unanimous consent of States to this declaration “may be understood as an acceptance of the validity of the rule or set of rules declared by the resolution by themselves”.655 (7) An example of the practice of non-recognition of acts in breach of peremptory norms is provided by the reaction of the Security Council to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Following the Iraqi declaration of a “comprehensive and eternal merger” with Kuwait, the Security Council, in resolution 662 (1990) of 9 August 1990, decided that the annexation had “no legal validity, and is considered null and void”, and called upon all States, international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize that annexation and to refrain from any action or dealing that might be interpreted as a recognition of it, whether direct or indirect. In fact, no State recognized the 652 This has been described as “an essential legal weapon in the fight against grave breaches of the basic rules of international law” (C. Tomuschat, “International crimes by States: an endangered species?”, International Law: Theory and Practice — Essays in Honour of Eric Suy, K. Wellens, ed. (The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1998), p. 253, at p. 259. 653 Secretary of State’s note to the Chinese and Japanese Governments, in Hackworth, Digest of International Law (Washington, D.C., United States Government Printing Office, 1940), vol. I, p. 334; endorsed by Assembly resolutions of 11 March 1932, League of Nations Official Journal, March 1932, Special Supplement No. 101, p. 87. For a review of earlier practice relating to collective nonrecognition, see J. Dugard, Recognition and the United Nations (Cambridge, Grotius, 1987), pp. 24–27. 654 General Assembly resolution 2625 (XXV), annex, first principle. 655 Military and Paramilitary Activities in and against Nicaragua (see footnote 36 above), at p. 100, para. 188.