Minorities In International Law

1997 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 507-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas W. Simon
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
New World ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Ethnic Cleansing ◽  
Negative Aspect ◽  
General Role ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Political Conflicts

The ideology of ethno-nationalism creates a new world disorder. States and international organizations must find a way to deal with group conflicts to prevent ethno-nationalism from transmogrifying into ethnic cleansing and genocide. Minorities need protection against harm. The problem of minorities dominates many political conflicts.The judiciary can provide a critical means of protection. Agreement comes readily over the general role for the courts in minority protection. Disagreement abounds over their specific role. Should courts, for instance, protect individuals but not specific groups? Should courts protect the identity of minority groups? The role of the judiciary becomes more tractable with a reorientation of our thinking by giving priority to the negative aspect of the minorities’ problem: the problem of injustice. Since group harm, and not group identity, lies at the heart of the difficulty, this is where the courts should look. Jurists become diverted in trying to define a minority in some positive terms when the harms that confront any minority are readily apparent.

Evolving Protection of Minority Groups: Global Challenges and the Role of International Jurisprudence

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaetano Pentassuglia
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Standard Setting ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Global Challenges ◽  
Judicial Discourse

AbstractThis article explores the role of judicial discourse in articulating and accommodating minority claims under international law. It identifies four major movements in the field of minority protection and argues that, while the era of specialised standard-setting on minority groups seems to be largely over, international jurisprudence holds the promise of a wider and deeper (re-)assessment of minority issues within the human rights canon.

New minorities, old instruments? Diversity governance from the perspective of minority rights

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 178-192
Author(s):  
Roberta Medda-Windischer
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Common Definition ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
Scope Of Application

In international law, minority rights instruments have been traditionally conceived for, and applied to, old minority groups with the exclusion of new minority groups originating from migration. Yet, minority groups, irrespective of their being old or new minorities, can be subsumed under a common definition and have some basic common claims. This allows devising a common but differentiated set of rights and obligations for old and new minority groups alike. This paper argues that the extension of the scope of application of legal instruments of minority protection, such as the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM), is conceptually meaningful and beneficial to the integration of new minorities stemming from migration. 

scholarly journals Designing for international law: The architecture of international organizations 1922–1952

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Miriam Bak McKenna
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Organization ◽  
International Labour Organization ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Physical Manifestation ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Do So

Abstract Situating itself in current debates over the international legal archive, this article delves into the material and conceptual implications of architecture for international law. To do so I trace the architectural developments of international law’s organizational and administrative spaces during the early to mid twentieth century. These architectural endeavours unfolded in three main stages: the years 1922–1926, during which the International Labour Organization (ILO) building, the first building exclusively designed for an international organization was constructed; the years 1927–1937 which saw the great polemic between modernist and classical architects over the building of the Palace of Nations; and the years 1947–1952, with the triumph of modernism, represented by the UN Headquarters in New York. These events provide an illuminating allegorical insight into the physical manifestation, modes of self-expression, and transformation of international law during this era, particularly the relationship between international law and the function and role of international organizations.

Features of ILM for the 1960's

1969 ◽  
Vol 8 (I1) ◽  
pp. xi-xii
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Military Force ◽  
International Arbitration ◽  
National Courts ◽  
The Developed Countries

The contents of ILM for the period from 1962 to 1969 reflect several significant developments: (1) the entry on the international scene of many new countries and their establishment of relations with the developed countries, particularly in the fields of commerce and trade and of investment; (2) the prevalence of armed conflict and the use of military force in the unsettled conditions resulting from the decolonization process and from continued antagonisms between the superpowers; (3) the pervasive role of international organizations, both global and regional, general and specialized; and (4) the continued predominance of national courts in the judicial consideration of questions of international law and the shift from general to specialized tribunals in the resolution of disputes by international arbitration and adjudication.

The historical role of the UN in the modern world

2021 ◽  
pp. 6-21
Author(s):  
L. Grishaeva
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
New World ◽  
International Security ◽  
Modern World ◽  
World War ◽  
Global Organization ◽  
Global Problems ◽  
Historical Role ◽  
Historical Origins

The author writes about the historical role of the United Nations in the modern world. About the historical origins of many of the problems facing the UN at the present time. About the UN as a global organization with universal competence and a broad representative composition. On the UN Charter, which is the basis for the legitimacy of decision-making to maintain peace and strengthen international security. On the urgent need to restore the rule of international law in solving global problems. On the erosion of the Yalta system and the need to preserve the unique architecture of the UN. About the reasons allowing the UN to prevent a new world war for 75 years.

Functionalism According to Paul Reuter: Playing a Lone Hand

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 543-564
Author(s):  
Evelyne Lagrange
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public International Law ◽  
Respective Role ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

Abstract The true designer of the High Authority of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) might have been a French professor of international law, Paul Reuter (1911–1990). Then working in the shadow of Jean Monnet, he became one of the leading experts in public international law in France from the late 1950s on and also served on the International Law Commission. It was not his style to develop a fully-fledged theory of functionalism, but he paid the utmost attention to the ‘functions’ of international organizations. While demonstrating a certain reluctance towards some consequences associated with functionalism, he expressed no disdain for a lite version of ‘constitutionalism’. Discretely, Reuter outlined a balancing between ‘functionalism’ and ‘constitutionalism’. He more insistently elaborated on the respective role of experts and policy-makers.

The Role of State Amici Curiae in the Article 19(3) ICC Statute Proceedings

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Williams ◽  
Hannah Woolaver
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Trial Chamber ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
State Participation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Controversial Nature

Abstract An unprecedented number of states have sought to act as amici curiae in the proceedings before the Pre-Trial Chamber of International Criminal Court (ICC) considering the Court’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in Palestine. Given the centrality of the issue of Palestinian statehood to this jurisdictional question, these proceedings raise complex and novel questions of international law — and politics. The high number of states seeking to participate as amici either individually or through international organizations reflects the controversial nature of the questions at hand. Conversely, Israel has refused to participate in the proceedings, despite an invitation from the Chamber. In this submission, we consider the challenges raised by state participation as amici curiae, including the role(s) played by state amici, and the impact — if any — such extensive participation has on the legitimacy of the proceedings and its outcome(s) and for the ICC as an institution.

Institutions of International Law and the Development of Regional Forum for Peaceful Dialogue in South Asia

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javaid Rehman
Keyword(s):  
South Asia ◽  
International Law ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Regional Institutions ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
The World ◽  
Peace And Security ◽  
Substantial Risk

AbstractSince 11 September 2001, international law and the community it governs are at a crossroads. While the world appears to be besieged by terrorist threats from non-state actors such as the Al-Qaeda, there is also a substantial risk of super-power unilateralism and arrogance. Amidst these crises, South-Asia occupies a sensitive and vulnerable position. The region is also beset with ethnic, religious, and domestic political conflicts which provide substantial threats to regional peace and security. Against the backdrop of the enormous complications faced by South Asia, the present article considers the role of international and regional institutions in developing forums for establishing peace and security for the region, as well greater promotion of human rights. A particular focus is upon the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) which, it is contended, is an organisation capable of providing a suitable platform for peaceful dialogue within South-Asia.

Self-Determination, Human Rights, and the Nation-State

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 443-484
Author(s):  
Gaetano Pentassuglia
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Nation State ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
General Process ◽  
Cultural Minority ◽  
The Right

Abstract In this article I examine selective dimensions of the nexus among the right to self-determination, human rights, and the ‘nation-state’ as they relate to claims made by certain ethno-cultural minority groups. I first discuss some conceptual extensions of ‘national’ claims and their underlying relation to international law and state sovereignty. Then, I critique elements of ‘national’ self-determination that are supposedly constitutive of the law of self-determination, including arguments about sub-national groups as ‘peoples’, and discuss some alternative approaches to the role of international law vis-à-vis this sort of claims. Finally, I argue that international human rights law can offer a synthesis of the above nexus insofar as it works, not so much as a platform for accepting or rejecting seemingly ‘absolute’ rights or solely enabling legal-institutional ad hocism, but rather as a general process-based framework for assessing group- related pathologies that are (directly or indirectly) of international law’s own making.

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