Inclusion and Representation: The Settlement of Property Claims of the Dispossessed in the Aftermath of an Armed Conflict

Abstract

This Article examines the authority of states to settle individual private
property claims in post–conflict negotiations towards settlement. We
analyze this question by exploring the limits of states’ authority to
take or limit private property rights for the public good. We argue
that this authority rests on two cumulative justifcations: the inclusion
of the property owners among the public that stands to beneft from
the public good, and their representation by the government that
decides on the taking of the property. In post–conflict settlement,
the negotiating states may redistribute both private property and the
public good between and within their respective communities. Their
authority to redistribute continues to rests on the same justifcations
of inclusion and representation. Hence, their authority extends only
to the redistribution of property of owners who are members of the
respective communities that negotiate the agreement, and who are
represented by a negotiating government.