The Right of Secession in Public International Law

1983 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 24-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Turp
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Community ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
Right Of Self Determination

SummaryIn light of the numerous secessionist claims witnessed by the international community, it is of great interest to ascertain if international law provides for a right of secessionist self-determination. An analysis of treaty provisions encompassing the right of self-determination of peoples, namely the United Nations Charter and the Human Rights Covenants, suggests that the latter treaties consecrate an authentic right to secede. Such a right appears to be unhindered by any customary norm which would prohibit secession as a means of implementation of the right of self-determination of peoples, seeing that the practice of States is clearly divided on the issue of secession. It is submitted, however, that there is a need for more detached criteria with respect to the right of secession, its beneficiaries and its conditions of exercise and, consequently, for an acknowledgement, to the benefit of the international community as a whole, of the legitimacy of national affirmations and secessionist claims.

scholarly journals Shaping Indigenous Self-Determination: Promising or Unsatisfactory Solutions?

2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Barelli
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Straightforward Manner ◽  
History Of ◽  
United Nations Declaration ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Self Determination ◽  
Do So

AbstractThe right of peoples to self-determination represents one of the most controversial norms of international law. In particular, two questions connected with the meaning and scope of this right have been traditionally contentious: first, who constitutes a ‘people’ for the purposes of self-determination, and, secondly, what does the right of self-determination actually imply for its legitimate holders. Against this unsettled background, the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) affirmed, in a straightforward manner, that indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination. In light of the uncertainties that were mentioned above, it becomes necessary to clarify the actual implications of this important recognition. This article will seek to do so by discussing the drafting history of the provision on self-determination contained in the UNDRIP and positioning it within the broader normative framework of the instrument.

scholarly journals The Right of Self-Determination: Its Emergence, Development, and Controversy

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Munafrizal Manan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Right ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Self Determination

This paper discusses the right of self-determinationfrom  international  law  and international human rights law perspective. It traces the emergence and development of self-determination from political principle to human right. It also explores the controversy of the right of self-determination. There have been different and even contradictory interpretations of the right of self-determination. Besides, there is no consensus on the mechanism to apply the right of self-determination. Both international law and international human rights law are vague about this.

scholarly journals Secession, Democracy & Human Rights

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Reimers
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Spontaneous Order ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
Current Process ◽  
Coercive Behavior ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right ◽  
United Nations Charter

The United Nations (UN) officially declared "self-determination" as a right of all peoples. Although the United Nations Charter (1945) offers some guidelines for the application of this right, there are major challenges in its implementation in the case of secessionist tendencies. Faced with this situation, the economist Jörg Guido Hülsmann, in his essay Secession and the Production of Defense, discussed not only the argument that pure private production is always superior to public and compulsory schemes, but also the current process of secession which, should always be justified against violent and coercive behavior of governments against (part of) its population. Hülsmann's ideas are presented in the contrast of the latest secessionist movements in Catalonia and Scotland, and in combination with Hayek's concept of "spontaneous order." The separatist movementin Catalonia is also analyzed based on the ideas of political scientist Margaret Moore, who advocates three types of normative theories that can justify the right to secession.

scholarly journals Disentangling the conundrum of self-determination and its implications in Greenland

Polar Record ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorothée Céline Cambou
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Significant Control ◽  
The People ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Self Determination

Abstract In 2009, the Act on Greenland Self-Government was adopted. It recognises that “the people of Greenland is a people pursuant to international law with the right of self-determination”. Within this framework, the people of Greenland have gained significant control over their own affairs and the right to access to independence. Yet, the extent to which this framework ensures the right of self-determination in accordance with fundamental human rights can still be questioned. From a human rights perspective, the right of self-determination is not a one-time right. It is fundamental human right that applies in different contexts beyond decolonisation and which has implications not only for colonial countries and peoples but also for the population of all territories, including indigenous and minority groups. From this perspective, this contribution seeks to disentangle and analyse the different facets of self-determination in Greenland while considering the implications of the right based on the multifarious identity of the peoples living in the country as colonial people, citizens, indigenous and minority groups, including their claim to control mining resources.

Reflections on the Indonesian Case

1948 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rupert Emerson
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
General Assertion ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right ◽  
United Nations Charter

The tangled affairs of Indonesia, twice thrust upon the Security Council, have served as an admirable touchstone of the principles, purposes, and effectiveness of the United Nations as well as of the policies of some of its leading members. Fundamental principles of the new postwar order were at stake. The Atlantic Charter had affirmed the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they would live, and the collapse of empires before the Japanese onslaught led to the widespread conclusion that the old colonial system was dead. These doctrines found sober and modified expression not only in Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter, but also in the more general assertion of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples and of the universal application of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The rights of dependent peoples, the validity of the doctrine of self-determination, and the possibilities for peaceful change all hovered about the Security Council chamber in the course of the debates on the two Indonesian cases.

scholarly journals Self-Determination in Regional Human Rights Law: From Kosovo to Cameroon

2011 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dinah Shelton
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
World War ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Self Determination

The right of self-determination has long been celebrated for bringing independence and self-government to oppressed groups, yet it remains a highly controversial norm of international law. From the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires after World WarI to the struggle of colonial territories for independence following World War II and the later dissolution of the former Yugoslavia, there has been an unavoidable conflict between the efforts of peoples to achieve independence and the demands of existing states to preserve their territorial integrity.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document