Boundaries and Secession in Africa and International Law PDF Download

Author: Dirdeiry M. Ahmed
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781316458600
Category : Africa
Languages : en
Pages :

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Author: Dirdeiry M. Ahmed
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107117984
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
This book challenges the central assumption of the law of territory by establishing that uti possidetis is not a general principle of law, and arguing that African customary rules were generated. It includes in-depth coverage of African secession, with issues of human rights law, self-determination and political science presented in a new light.

Author: Christian Walter
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191006912
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 337

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Book Description
Peoples and minorities in many parts of the world assert a right to self-determination, autonomy, and even secession from a state, which naturally conflicts with that state's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The right of a people to self-determination and secession has existed as a concept within international law since the American Declaration of Independence in 1776, but the exact definition of these concepts, and the conditions required for their application, remain unclear. The Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice concerning the Declaration of Independency of Kosovo (2010), which held that the Kosovo declaration of independence was not in violation of international law, has only led to further questions. This book takes four conflicts in the post-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) as a starting point for examining the current state of the law of self-determination and secession. Four entities, Transnistria (Moldova), South Ossetia, Abkhazia (both Georgia), and Nagorno-Karabakh (Azerbaijan), claim to be entitled not only to self-determination but also to secession from their mother state. For this entitlement they rely on historic affiliations, and on charges of discrimination and massive human rights violations committed by their mother state. This book sets out its analysis of these critical issue in three parts, providing a detailed understanding of the principles of international law on which they rely: The first part sets out the contours and meaning of self-determination and secession, including an overall assessment of secession within the Commonwealth of Independent States. The second section provides case studies investigating the events in Transnistria, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Nagorno-Karabach in greater detail. The third and final section extends the scope of the examination, providing a comparative analysis of similar conflicts involving questions of self-determination and secession in Kosovo, Western Sahara, and Eritrea.

Author: Joshua Castellino
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004480897
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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The principle of self-determination has at heart the achievement of true representation and democracy based on the idea that the consent of the governed alone can give government legitimacy. The principle was primarily responsible for the decolonisation process that shaped our current international community. `Self-determination' has been used in equal rhetorical brilliance by a number of leaders - some meritorious, with a genuine concern for human emancipation, others dubious, with ascendancy to power at the heart of their project. In any case, `self-determination' has come to mean different things in different contexts. Being a vital principle, especially in the post-colonial state, it is one factor that represents a threat to world order while at the same time holding out the promise of longer-term peace and security based on values of democracy, equity and justice. This book looks at the intricacies of the norm in its current ambiguous manifestation and seeks to deconstruct it with regard to three particularly inter-related discourses: that of minority rights, statehood and sovereignty, and the doctrine of uti possidetis which shaped the modern post-colonial state. These norms are then analysed further within two case studies. One, concerning the creation of Bangladesh where `self-determination' was achieved. The second, examines the situation in the Western Sahara where `self-determination' (whatever its manifestation) is yet to be expressed. In the course of these case studies we seek to highlight the problematic nature of `national identity' and the `self' in settings far removed from post-Westphalian Europe.

Author: Jeremy I Levitt
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1847314171
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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The principal aim of this work is to provide a forum for leading international lawyers with experience and interest in Africa to address a broad range of intellectual challenges concerning the contribution of African states and peoples to international law. As such, the volume addresses orthodox topics of international law - such as jurisdiction and intervention - but tackles them from an African perspective, and seeks to ask whether, in each case, the African perspective is unique or affirms existing arrangements of international law. The book cannot come at a more important time. While international legal discourse has been captured by the challenge of terrorism since September 11, 2001, there are clear signs that other issues are returning to the fore. Political interest in Africa has undergone a global revival, and the OAU has been transformed into the African Union. Infrastructural challenges, along with those taking place in regional contexts, have effectively mapped a new politico-legal landscape for Africa. This, and more, is explored, and the key normative questions are addressed in a series of essays by leading Africanist scholars. 'This is a remarkable collection of essays that clearly and concisely demonstrates that Africa has and will continue to play a major role in fashioning new norms of international law and policy and contribute to its progressive development by affirming existing norms. Professor Levitt is to be commended for having the vision, leadership and intellectual prowess to produce this excellent text. The book signals a major shift from the study of Africa as a basket case to a normative market place.' Akua Kuenyehia, Vice President, International Criminal Court 'Professor Levitt's work, Africa: Mapping New Boundaries in International Law, is pathbreaking in the true sense of that word. Through old and new voices, it excavates the singular contributions of Africa to a discipline that is marked by Eurocentrism and imperial aspirations. The authors, taking their cue from the indefatigable and insightful Professor Levitt, establish beyond a shadow of a doubt the enormity of the normative contributions that Africa has made to international law. The book must therefore be seen as a defining contribution to the multiculturalization of international law. It is for this reason that Professor Levitt is among the most important American academics working and thinking in international law today.' Makau Mutua, Interim Dean, SUNY Distinguished Professor, State University of New York Buffalo Law School

Author: Gbenga Oduntan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135039550
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
Africa has experienced a number of territorial disputes over land and maritime boundaries, due in part to its colonial and post-colonial history. This book explores the legal, political, and historical nature of disputes over territory in the African continent, and critiques the content and application of contemporary International law to the resolution of African territorial and border disputes. Drawing on central concepts of public international law such as sovereignty and jurisdiction, and socio-political concepts such as colonialism, ethnicity, nationality and self-determination, this book interrogates the intimate connection that peoples and nations have to territory and the severe disputes these may lead to. Gbenga Oduntan identifies the major principles of law at play in relation to territorial, and boundary disputes, and argues that the predominant use of foreign based adjudicatory mechanisms in attempting to deal with African boundary disputes alienates those institutions and mechanisms from African people and can contribute to the recurrence of conflicts and disputes in and among African territories. He suggests that the understanding and application of multidisciplinary dispute resolution mechanisms and strategies can allow for a more holistic and effective treatment of boundary disputes. As an in depth study into the legal, socio-political and anthropological mechanisms involved in the understanding of territorial boundaries, and a unique synthesis of an African jurisprudence of international boundaries law, this book will be of great use and interest to students, researchers, and practitioners in African and Public International Law, International Relations, and decision-makers in need of better understanding the settlement of disputes over territorial boundaries in both Africa and the wider world.

Author: Milena Sterio
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1785361228
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Secession in International Law argues that the effective development of criteria on secession is a necessity in today’s world, because secessionist struggles can be analyzed through the legal lens only if we have specific legal rules to apply. Without legal rules, secessionist struggles are dominated by politics and sui generis approaches, which validate secessionist attempts based on geo-politics and regional states’ self-interest, as opposed to the law. By using a truly comparative approach, Milena Sterio has developed a normative international law framework on secession, which focuses on several factors to assess the legitimacy of a separatist quest.

Author: Malcolm Nathan Shaw
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 456

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The territorially-based view of international law remains the fundamental model and is subscribed to by third world states. This study analyzes the colonial acquisition of African territory with particular reference to the evolution of the principles of self-determination and its impact upon the law relating to territory.

Author: Marcelo G. Kohen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521849289
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
This book is a comprehensive study of secession from an international law perspective.

Author: Suzanne N. Lalonde
Publisher: McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP
ISBN: 0773570497
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
She argues that nothing justifies conferring such a binding status on the principle and that the uti possidetis applied in Yugoslavia was an entirely new version that can derive no legitimacy from colonial precedents. While the doctrine may have considerable utility in some cases, it is only principle among many that must be considered if future disputes are to be resolved so as to promote long term peace and stability. Lalonde sounds a cautionary note, showing that the idea that uti possidetis provides a one-size-fits-all, legally incontestable solution to all territorial disputes is an illusion.