INTERNATIONAL
LAW
W.B. Fisch Fall 2008
Assignment #17
Ch. 8) International Organizations, Peoples and
Non-Governmental Organizations
B. Self-Determination and Peoples
THE AALAND ISLANDS QUESTION,
p. 484 ([Ad hoc] Int’l Commission of Jurists 1920).
1.
Aaland Islands
lie across the Gulf of Bothnia between Finland and Sweden (form a boundary
between the Gulf and the Baltic Sea)
2.
Finland, having
been under Swedish rule until 1809 and a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire from
1809 to 1917 (including Aalands), declared its
independence in late 1917 in the wake of the Russian Revolution, and included
the Aalands in its territory
3.
Aalanders wished to attach to Sweden rather than remain under
Finland – its own nationalist/separatist/independence movement began before
Finland became independent
4.
Did this wish
create a question of international law?
a.
is there a right under IL for a group within an existing
state to separate?
b.
if a process of de facto separation or
disintegration of a state begins, when does the resolution of the situation
become an issue of international law?
c.
was the
declaration of independence of Finland a transitional event, governed in part
by international law, or did it involved an established entity achieving
independence as a unit?
5.
if it raises a question of international law, how should
it be decided?
a.
Is there a rule
of international law that governs the issue?
b.
is the Commission’s conclusion merely that the issue is
one of international concern, such that intervention of the international
community does not violate Finnish sovereignty?
REFERENCE RE SECESSION OF QUEBEC, p. 492 (Sup.Ct.Can. 1998). Given that the Canadian
Constitution does not permit unilateral secession, does Quebec have a right
under IL to secede without the consent of the federation?
1)
Are the
inhabitants of Quebec a “people”?
a)
Does the Court
decide this issue?
b)
what problems are presented by the claim?
2)
what is “self-determination”? Int’l Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
art. 1
i)
“free
determination of political status”
ii)
“free pursuit of
economic, social and cultural development”
3)
how is their right to self-determination to be
implemented? UNGA Res. 2625 (1970):
a)
establishment of
a sovereign and independent state
b)
free association
or integration with an independent state
c)
emergence into
any other political status “freely determined by a people”
d)
is this an exclusive list?
4)
what is the distinction between “internal” and “external”
self-determination?
a)
what is unique about colonies and foreign-occupied
territories in this respect?
b)
when might other “peoples” exercise the right of
“external” self-determination?
5)
Kosovo’s proclamation of independence from Serbia/Montenegro
a)
25+ states,
including U.S., have recognized Kosovo as an independent state
b)
At the request of
Serbia, the UNGA has now requested an advisory opinion from the ICJ on whether
the secession was valid under international law
c)
What are the
arguments?