Whether the Criteria Contained in the 1989 International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries Notably Motivation Apply to Today’s Foreign Fighters?

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 400-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
José L. Gómez del Prado
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
International Convention ◽  
Jus Ad Bellum ◽  
Additional Protocol ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Foreign Fighters ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
And Training

To protect the right of peoples to self-determination enshrined in its Charter, the United Nations adopted instruments to fight against mercenary activities and the crime of mercenarism. These actions were developed within the context of Jus ad bellum or the prerequisites, established in the un Charter, under which States may resort to the use of armed force. In 1991, un abandoned the recommendation made by the International Law Commission to maintain the crime of mercenarism in the code of crimes against the peace and the security of mankind. Instead, un adopted the 1989 Convention which definition of mercenary based on Article 47 of Additional Protocol i under jus in bello, sets out a number of prerequisites revolving around the foreign character of the mercenary and his motivation. Such conditions are at the origin of the difficulties to apply the 1989 Convention that has proved unworkable to deal with the phenomenon of mercenarism.

scholarly journals PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND THEIR ROLE IN CONFLICT RESOLUTION IN KOSOVO AND CRIMEA. Part 2

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Community ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Conflict Situations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right

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.

scholarly journals A Look at the Evolution of the Right to Self-determination in International Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 117-132
Author(s):  
Paweł von Chamier Cieminski ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Advisory Opinion ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right

The article takes stock of the historical development of the notion of the right of a people to self-determination in international law. It provides a coherent review of the main international treaties, customary rules, and legal rulings that shaped the evolution of the term over the course of the twentieth century. In doing so, it focuses on the main historical and political events, which had an impact on that process as well as the preconditions that have to be met in order for a people to have the legal capacity to execute the right to self-determination. Three main processes, which it focuses on are: decolonization, the establishment of a number of new countries following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and the recent developments following ICJ’s Advisory Opinion on Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo. It also delineates the subject of the legal definition of a “people” as opposed to a “minority”, describes the legal tension between the right to self-determination and the principle of territorial continuity in international law, and discusses potential further development of the term.

scholarly journals El derecho a decidir y el principio democrático

2016 ◽  
pp. 477 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Tudela Aranda
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Independence Movement ◽  
Democratic Principle ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Self Determination

Decidida la independencia, las fuerzas políticas partidarias de la misma, tenían que encontrar la manera de poder encauzar sus aspiraciones. No teniendo cauce ni en derecho interno ni el derecho internacional, se busco ese cauce en el principio democrático mediante la construcción del llamado derecho a decidir. Un derecho a decidir que suponía, en esencia, reducir el principio democrático a un solo acto electoral, con reglas establecidas unilateralmente. En este artículo se pretende desmentir tanto la oposición entre principio de legalidad y principio democrático como la propia ortodoxia democrática del derecho a decidir. Junto a ello, se argumenta que en ningún caso resulta posible constitucionalizar, normativizar, un derecho de autodeterminación. Más allá de su naturaleza difícilmente compatible con la esencia de cualquier orden constitucional, las dificultades de fijar las condiciones concretas de su ejercicio, lo antojan imposible. No en vano, ningún ordenamiento jurídico del mundo lo reconoce.After having decided the objective of independence, the political parties in favour of this objective had to find a way how to articulate their aspirations. Since there is no legal way within the national or international law, the independence movement based their demands in the democratic principle by building the so-called right to decide. However this right to decide means to limit the democratic principle to a single electoral act, with unilaterally established rules and outside the existing legal framework. In this article we try to disprove both the supposed opposition between the rule of law and the democratic principle, as well as the supposed democratic spirit of the right to decide. Along with this, we will argue that it is impossible to constitutionalise the right of self-determination. The right of self-determination is opposed to the essence of any constitutional order, moreover the difficulties of setting the conditions in order to implement this right, and particularly, the definition of the subject, makes the application impossible.

scholarly journals THE CREATION STORY OF KASHMIRI PEOPLE: THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Fozia N Lone
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
Creation Story ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Right

If a group wishes to exercise the right to self-determination, they need to establish that they are a “people” within the international law definition, thereby triggering the ability to claim this right.  Thus, the definition of the term “people” is the key in cases of self-determination and always posits difficult challenges.  This article aims to determine whether the “Kashmiri people” could be identified as a group that fits within the contemporary non-exhaustive definition of people.  Having ascended from the level of subjects of an autocratic rule to victims of human rights violations, are Kashmiris now in a position to exercise a right to self-determination?  

Proposing a Way to Develop the Substantive Content of the Right of Access to Adequate Housing: An Alternative to the Reasonableness Review Model

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-93
Author(s):  
Gustav Muller
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Municipal Services ◽  
International Convention ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Substantive Content ◽  
Convincing Case ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
Review Model ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access

In this article an attempt is made to put forward a convincing case for giving substantive content to the right of access to adequate housing and looks towards relevant international law elaborations on the meaning of this right as contained in the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). It does so while being aware of the Constitutional Court’s prior rejection of an international law-based minimum core interpretation of the right and opting, instead, for the so-called model of reasonableness breview. Given that the court has so expressly taken and stuck to this stance, it is argued in the article that an international law-based substantive interpretation of the right is possible – given that South Africa has recently ratified the ICESCR – and that it is preferable given the shortfalls of the model of reasonableness review. The article further highlights what difference the preferred reading of section 26(1) would make as to how courts ‘interpret’ reasonableness, that is, how courts review compliance with section 26 at present if ‘adequate’ housing is understood as having security of tenure and access to basic municipal services; is affordable, habitable and accessible; is located in close proximity to social facilities; and is culturally adequate.

Sovereignty, Self-Determination, and Natural Resources

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérémie Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Ambivalent Relationship ◽  
The Right

The issue of sovereignty over natural resources has been a key element in the development of international law, notably leading to the emergence of the principle of States’ permanent sovereignty over their natural resources. However, concomitant to this focus on States’ sovereignty, international human rights law proclaims the right of peoples to self-determination over their natural resources. This has led to a complex and ambivalent relationship between the principle of States’ sovereignty over natural resources and peoples’ rights to natural resources. This chapter analyses this conflicting relationship and examines the emergence of the right of peoples to freely dispose of their natural resources and evaluates its potential role in contemporary advocacy. It notably explores how indigenous peoples have called for the revival of their right to sovereignty over natural resources, and how the global peasants’ movement has pushed for the recognition of the concept of food sovereignty.

A Moving Target

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippa Webb
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Moving Target ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
European Court ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
National Practice

The last 50 years have seen significant changes in the law of immunity. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has, over the past 15 years in particular, played an influential role in the law applicable to this ‘moving target’. This chapter examines three approaches of the ECtHR to the identification of general international law: (i) the ECtHR looking to the International Court of Justice; (ii) the ECtHR looking to national practice; and (iii) the ECtHR looking to the work of the International Law Commission and the provisional application of treaties. Although the ECtHR strives to locate itself within general international law, it necessarily approaches the immunities of States, officials, and international organizations through the lens of Article 6 ECHR and whether the immunity in question constitutes a legitimate and proportionate restriction on the right of access to court. This has, at times, taken the Court down a different path to other judicial bodies and we can identify the emergence of a ‘European approach’ to the role of immunity in employment disputes.

Russland und das Selbstbestimmungsrecht der Völker im postsowjetischen Raum

2021 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-26
Author(s):  
Johannes Socher
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Legal Rhetoric ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Regional Comparison ◽  
State Practice ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
The Right ◽  
Fragmentation Of International Law ◽  
Post Soviet Space

As a concept of international law, the right to self-determination is widely renowned for its unclarity. Broadly speaking, one can differentiate between a liberal and a nationalist tradition. In modern international law, the balance between these two opposing traditions is sought in an attempt to contain or ‘domesticate’ the nationalist conception by limiting it to ‘abnormal’ situations, i.e. to colonialism in the sense of ‘alien subjugation, domination and exploitation’. Essentially, this distinction between ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ situations has since been the heart of the matter in the legal discourse on the right to self-determination, with the important qualification regarding the need to preserve existing borders. This study situates Russia’s approach to the right to self- determination in that discourse by way of a regional comparison vis-à-vis a ‘western’ or European perspective, and a temporal comparison with the former Soviet doctrine of international law. Against the background of the Soviet Union’s role in the evolution of the right to self-determination, the bulk of the study analyses Russia’s relevant state practice in the post-Soviet space through the prisms of sovereignty, secession, and annexation. Complemented by a review of the Russian scholarship on the topic, it is suggested that Russia’s approach to the right to self-determination may be best understood not only in terms of power politics disguised as legal rhetoric, but can be seen as evidence of traits of a regional (re-)fragmentation of international law.

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