Self-Determination of Modern International Law and ‘Self-Determination of Peoples’ at Paris Peace Conference

2019 ◽  
Vol 69 ◽  
pp. 31-59
Author(s):  
Sang-Sook Jeon
Author(s):  
Muhamad Sayuti Hassan ◽  
Rohaida Nordin

The main objective of this article is to critically evaluate the compatibility of the ‘right to political participation’ of the Orang Asli by looking at international law standards. The present study utilises a qualitative socio-legal approach, which analyses the political participation of the Orang Asli under Malaysian law and determines whether the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954 (apa) can provide for the protection, well-being, and the advancement of the Orang Asli. Arguably, the existing provisions of the apa are not in conformity with the recognition in undrip and in no way guarantee the Orang Asli’s right to self-determination as recognised by international law. Thus, the current study recommends an amendment to the apa and introduces guidelines to empower political participation of the Orang Asli by incorporating the principles of undrip. The amendment is necessary to ensure that the protection of the right to self-determination of the Orang Asli is compatible with international law standards.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-116
Author(s):  
Bertus De Villiers

Section 235 of the Constitution of South Africa contains a promise of potential self-determination of language and cultural communities. An essential question arising from this promise is how an individual’s freedom of association interacts with the ability of a community to determine its membership. This article reflects on this question with reference to standards developed in international law and practices in the constitutional law of selected case studies. Whereas international law sets a universal standard of free association, states have developed practices whereby the individual’s right to free association is recognised, but where there are also some measures allowed to ensure that an individual is indeed accepted by and part of the community. Any conflicts that arise are, generally speaking, subject to a form of judicial review.


2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Koivurova

AbstractEven though self-determination of peoples has an esteemed place in international law, it seems fairly clear that peoples divided by international borders have difficulty in exercising their right to self-determination. It is thus interesting to examine whether general international law places constraints on trans-national peoples’ right to self-determination. Of particular interest in this article is to examine whether indigenous peoples divided by international borders have a right to self-determination, given the recent adoption of the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The article will also take up cases where transnational indigenous peoples of Sami and Inuit have tried to exercise their joint self-determination and whether we can, in fact, argue that indigenous peoples divided by international borders have a right to exercise their united self-determination.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 285-302
Author(s):  
Ja’far Mohammad Khair Al Sabbagh

States’ boundaries have changed to a large extent over the course of time, in fact, the world has not always been the same as nowadays. In place of archaic forms of social organisation, the universal order has appeared where determinate and inviolable borders play a crucial role in ensuring the stability of states and resisting separatist movements. At the same time, secessionist movements throughout the world continually aim to gain independence from the ‘parent’ state invoking the right to self-determination. In this paper, the researcher will examine whether a part of the population of a state or a sub-unit of that state has a right to secede and create a new state and/or integrate into another. The article consists of a strong theoretical part dealing with statehood, self-determination and secession with a view of the dynamic development of these notions since the rapid birth of many new states as a result of decolonization. Thereafter, the validity of the gathered results will be verified by a comparative analysis of the cases of Kosovo, Crimea and Catalonia with regard to the historical background of these secessionist entities.


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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (7) ◽  
pp. 225-237
Author(s):  
Konrad RYDEL

The article describes the most important international law issues related to the annexation of the Crimea by the Russian Federation. The first part of the text concerns with the infringements of the international law made by Russia (infringement of the principle pacta sunt servanda, the principle of non intervention and the principle of the prohibition of aggression). The second, essential part of the text concerns the inadmissibility of self-determination of people in the case of the Crimea. Russian involvement in the Crimea results the illegality of self-determination in this case. It is also impossible because the case of Crimea does not meet the required conditions. This causes the inadmissibility of the secession of this territory.


2008 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 365-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Elo Rytter

AbstractIn 1953 Greenland, having been a Danish colony for centuries, became an integral part of the Danish realm. The General Assembly in resolution 849 recognised this change of status as an exercise by the people of Greenland of their right of self-determination. Subsequently, however, some scholars have questioned the validity under international law of Greenland's change of status, referring to non-fulfilment of certain substantive and procedural requirements of the exercise of colonial self-determination. Addressing this criticism the article concludes that, based on the norms and standards applicable at the relevant time, there is not a sufficient basis for challenging the validity of Greenland's integration with Denmark in 1953 and the General Assembly's endorsement thereof. Consequently, in legal terms, Greenland cannot today claim a continued right of external self-determination, including independence from Denmark.


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