scholarly journals The Use of Force, Wars of National Liberation and the Right to Self-Determination in the South Ossetian Conflict

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 567-583 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran O'Reilly ◽  
Noelle Higgins

AbstractThe 2008 conflict in South Ossetia, involving both Georgian and Russian armed forces, attracted much international attention and debate. This article seeks to analyse the international legal framework regarding the use of force which should have applied to this conflict. It will first look at the history of, and circumstances surrounding, the South Ossetian conflict, and then examine the jus ad bellum regarding wars of national liberation and aggression. The concept of intervention to protect nationals abroad will also be discussed. These legal paradigms will then be applied to the events of August 2008 in the region of South Ossetia to analyse the legality of the use of force in this conflict.

Author(s):  
Johannes Socher

Chapter 3 is the second of three chapters analysing Russia’s post-Soviet state practice with regard to the right to self-determination. It argues that prior to Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008, Russia’s state practice in the four major secessionist conflicts outside the Russian Federation’s territory (Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, and Transnistria in Moldova) was relatively consistent, notwithstanding valid critique of hypocrisy. With the recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states shortly after Kosovo’s declaration of independence, Russia’s approach arguably changed, although the underlying legal view was consistent with its position in the Kosovo case in front of the International Court of Justice, where Russia did not deny Kosovo recognition because of a different view on self-determination and secession but because it refused to accept the logic of some states which viewed Kosovo as a ‘special’ or ‘unique’ case that cannot be compared with other secessionist conflicts. The case studies furthermore show that Russia started to construct its own legal framework to justify its actions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 131-144
Author(s):  
D.A. REDIN ◽  

The purpose of the article is to research the history of creation and formation of the Chancellery of Contract Affairs – the first supervisory and regulatory body in the field of public procurement in Russia. The early history of the Contracting Chancellery (1715–1717) can be traced in the context of the development of legislative and administrative regulation of public procurement during the reign of Peter the Great. The institution of public procurement itself, according to the author, is associated with the acquisition of distinct features of the modern state by Russia, which was manifested in the previous time. The immediate impetus for the development of the institution was the reform of the armed forces and the resulting mobilization efforts of the supreme power. The very content of the research predetermined the use of source-based and historical-legal methods. As a result of the study, the author states that the creation of a special body – the Chancellery of Contract Affairs, designed to take control of the situation under state contracts, turned out to be the right decision. The well-coordinated work of the Contracting Chancellery with the Senate, fiscal authorities and investigative bodies led to the creation of a number of important regulatory legal acts, almost ‘from scratch’ forming the legislative basis for the institution of public procurement functioning. The need for further work on the designated topic is noted.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-113
Author(s):  
Md Abdur Razzak ◽  
Ghulam Kawnayn ◽  
Fateha Naznin ◽  
Quazi Audry Arafat Rahman

Moyamoya disease is a disease in which certain arteries in the brain are constricted. Blood flow is blocked by the constriction, and also by blood clots (thrombosis). A collateral circulation develops around the blocked vessels to compensate for the blockage, but the collateral vessels are small, weak, and prone to bleeding, aneurysm and thrombosis which may result in TIA, recurrent ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke or seizure. The disease may manifest in pediatric age or young adults. In May 2019 we have diagnosed a young lady with Moyamoya disease who presented with right sided hemiplegia, motor aphasia and dysphagia. She was labeled as hypertensive 6 months prior to this event and used to take anti-hypertensive irregularly and gave past history of occasional headache. Her CT scan and MRI of brain revealed left sided ischemic infarct involving frontotemporoparietal region and cerebral angiogram revealed narrowing of left MCA and non-visualization of distal part. There is extensive fine collaterals (Moyamoya vessels) giving the appearance of puffed smoke. The right ACA and MCA were also narrowed with appearance of early collateral vessels. She was treated with aspirin, PPI, NG feeding, antihypertensive medication, physiotherapy, rehabilitation therapy and other supportive care. His condition gradually improved and discharged on 2.7.19. He was referred to Department of Neurosurgery for cerebral revascularization by STA-MCA (superficial temporal and middle cerebral arteries) bypass surgery after stabilization and MR perfusion study. Journal of Armed Forces Medical College Bangladesh Vol.15 (1) 2019: 110-113


Author(s):  
A. Krylov

The post-Soviet history of the South Caucasus is divided into three stages of different duration, format and character. The first stage (1991-2008) began after the collapse of the USSR and continued until the war in South Ossetia in August 2008. At this time, the formation of independent states took place, the vectors of foreign policy of the new states were determined. The second stage of the post-Soviet history of the South Caucasus (2008-2020) began after a five-day war and Russia's recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia has strengthened its position in the South Caucasus by building a long-term system of response to potential threats in the southern direction. The Georgian factor has ceased to play an important role, the Armenian direction has become the main one in the policy of the United States and the collective West. To reformat the South Caucasus in American interests, “football diplomacy” was used, and then the second Karabakh war followed. After the end of the second Karabakh war, the third stage of the post-Soviet development of the South Caucasus began. At the end of 2020, Moscow managed to stabilize the situation and bring a contingent of Russian peacekeepers into the conflict zone. Further prospects for the development of the South Caucasus depend on many contradictory factors. The more tense the international situation and Russia's relations with the United States and the collective West will be, the higher the likelihood of the outbreak of new wars and conflicts in the South Caucasus.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-73
Author(s):  
Muneer Abduroaf

This paper analyses the right of Muslim adopted children to inherit from their deceased parents in terms of the laws of succession within the South African legal context. The status of adoption in South African and Islamic law is looked at first by way of an introduction. This is followed by looking at the rights of adopted Muslim children to inherit from their deceased parents (biological and adoptive) in terms of the South African and Islamic laws of intestate (compulsory) and then testate (optional) succession.1 The paper further looks at the possibility of applying relevant Islamic law of succession provisions applicable to enable adopted Muslim children to inherit from the estate of their deceased biological parents within the South African legal framework. The paper concludes with an analysis of the findings and makes a recommendation.


2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-398
Author(s):  
Sacha McMeeking ◽  
Helen Leahy ◽  
Catherine Savage

For Māori in New Zealand, COVID-19 is remarkable in two particular ways. First, we bet the odds for the first time in contemporary history. Forecasts predicted that Māori would have double the infection and mortality rates of non-Māori. However, as at June 2020, Māori have a disproportionately lower infection rate than non-Māori. This is perhaps the only example in our contemporary history of the Māori community having better social outcomes than non-Māori. Second is that attribution is due, perhaps not exclusively, but materially to a self-determination social movement within our Indigenous communities that the pandemic response unveiled and accelerated. This article comments on this self-determination social movement, with a particular focus on how that movement has manifested within the South Island of New Zealand. We specifically draw on the work of Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu, the South Island Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency to illustrate our analysis.


1985 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-159 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Kwaw Nyameke Blay

In the history of modern Africa the issue of self-determination has always been of special significance. For a better part of a century and in some cases more, almost the entire continent was subject to colonisation by various European powers. The end of the Second World War and the subsequent adoption of the United Nations Charter, incorporating the principle of self-determination, heralded a new phase for the African colonies in international relations. Defined in its simplest terms, self-determination is the principle by virtue of which a people freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. Selfdetermination is in essence the right of self-government. A territory exercises the right by either opting to establish itself as an independent state, associating with an existing state or by accepting to be integrated into an existing state. Self-determination so defined was thus used as the basis for decolonisation in Africa and provided the foundations for equal statehood for the former colonies of Africa in international relations.After decolonisation, the issue of self-determination still persists in Africa attracting sentiments and implications well exemplified by the conflicts Over Biafra and Katanga in the 1960s and currently in Eritrea, the Tigray province of Ethiopia and the Southern Sudan. The very successful propagation of self-determination as the right of every people to self-government by African nationalists during the colonial days seems to have left behind a legacy of a question for post-independence Africa—is the ideal of self-determination


2011 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 413-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Barelli

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.


Author(s):  
Vladislav V. Gruzdev ◽  
Dmitriy A. Babichev ◽  
Natal'ya A. Babicheva

The article is devoted to the burning problem that arose in 2014 in the Ukraine, in the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, and that concerns the right of the people of Donbass to self-determination. This problem is not only of a local territorial nature, but it is also one of the most complex debatable problems of international law. Since the right to self-determination contradicts the principle of territorial integrity of the state, the consideration and solution of this issue is the most burning for the whole population living on the territory of the self-proclaimed people's republics of Lugansk and Donetsk. In the article, the authors analyse the concept of "self-determination of the people" and give a generalised characteristic of it, approving that it is the right of every nation to solve the issues of state structure, political status, economic, social and cultural development independently and at its own discretion. The author also examines the historical past of the people of Donbass, where, in terms of the Republic of Donetsk and Krivoy Rog and various documentary historical and legal materials, we come to the conclusion that the population of Donbass has the right to social, economic, cultural, spiritual and other development just as all the recognised countries of the world.


The second part of the article considers the issue of the contradiction of the realization of the right to self-determination and the principle of territorial integrity of Serbia and Ukraine on the example of Kosovo and Crimea. It presents an analysis of the legitimacy of the will expression of Kosovars and Crimeans and its compliance with the norms of international law. The preconditions and factors of the ethnopolitical conflict are examined and the main problematic issues that caused controversies between the central and local authorities in Kosovo and Crimea are identified. The article emphasizes that the result of the plebiscites in Kosovo (1998) and Crimea (2014) was the declaration of independence, denied by central authorities of Serbia and Ukraine and met with mixed reactions by the international community. The self-proclaimed republics have only external features of statehood and are subject to external administration of other countries. A latent opposition of geopolitical opponents in the international arena is noted, which is to some extent traced through the position on the recognition / non-recognition of Kosovo and Crimea. The article draws attention to the fact that inconsistent interpretations of certain principles of international law promote secession movements in countries where conflicts periodically arise between central and local authorities. The emphasis is placed on the necessity of a clearer definition of the aforementioned international legal norms and obligations undertaken by subjects of international law. The article holds that in order to avoid such situations as in Kosovo or Crimea, to eliminate conflicts related to the possibility of an ambiguous interpretation and application of the principles of international law, an internationally recognized system of more stringent and comprehensive measures should be introduced to cease and prevent threats to the territorial integrity of countries. A strong position of the international community on the abovementioned principles with the history of the liberation movements of these peoples taken into account should become the measure precluding the aggravation of conflict situations related to the aspiration of peoples for self-determination.


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