Self-Determination of Peoples A Legal Reappraisal [Paperback]

The definitive study of the doctrine of self-determination of peoples.This book traces how the political ideal of self-determination has turned into an international legal standard, assessing its impact on existing legal norms through scrutiny of State practice as shown in national digests and UN proceedings. This primarily legal inquiry looks at law within its historical and political context, illuminating the interplay of law and politics.This book traces how the political ideal of self-determination has turned into an international legal standard, assessing its impact on existing legal norms through scrutiny of State practice as shown in national digests and UN proceedings. This primarily legal inquiry looks at law within its historical and political context, illuminating the interplay of law and politics.Which of the peoples currently claiming the right to self-determination have that right under international law? At what point does this political ideal turn into an international legal standard? This first comprehensive legal account asks how far self-determination is reshaping international relations and assesses the extent of its impact on traditional international institutions. The book scrutinizes State practice through national digests and United Nations proceedings and reappraises the concept against the whole body of international law, thus making an important contribution to an understanding of the interplay of law and politics.1. Introduction; Part I. The Historical Background: 2. Self-determination as an international political postulate; Part II. Self-Determination Becomes an International Legal Standard: 3. Treaty law; 4. The emergence of customary rules: external self-determination; 5. The emergence of customary rules: internal self-determination; 6. The holders of the right of self-determination and the means of ensuring observance of the right; 7. Comparing customary and treaty law; Part III. The Right to Self-Determination in Operation: 8. The il³j