Parliamentary Visits to Places of Armed Conflict and Disputed Territories

This paper explores the international legal dimension of parliamentary visits to places of armed conflict and disputed territories. The analysis takes place against the backdrop of controversial visits by MPs of several states to the occupied territories of eastern Ukraine and by heads of parliament to Taiwan. It argues that the interaction of parliamentary visits with international legal and political norms is greater than so far perceived by academia and parliamentary actors themselves. This underscores the need for an en-hanced awareness of existing legal pitfalls when conducting parliamentary visits abroad and suggests more nuanced considerations of international legal aspects in their planning. The paper first discusses the legality of parliamentary visits through the prism of state responsibility. It scrutinises their attribution under Articles on State Responsibility (ARSIWA). Additionally, it discusses breaches of two international norms that may arise over the course of parliamentary visits, namely the obligations of non-recognition and the prohibition of intervention. In a second step, this paper engages with two international legal-policy implications of parliamentary visits: Firstly, it explores the use of so-called Joint Parliamentary Communiqués to counter undesired visits. Secondly, it discusses how parliamentary visits, particularly in challenging diplomatic contexts, can serve as a tool, (re)opening doors for (re)establishing friendly inter-state relations.