Recent events in East Timor and other regions have highlighted the dangers of leaving issues of self-determination
unresolved for too long. Despite the tact that self-determination is one of the guiding
principles of the UN Charter, many controversies over its precise meaning and application continue to
preclude a coherent, comprehensive approach to the principle by Stales. This thesis analyses the main
controversies over the right of all peoples to self-determination and suggests some conclusions as to the
present status of this right under international law.
The author also analyses potential approaches to enforcing a legitimate right to self-determination and
concludes that there appears to be no effective enforcement mechanism, unless one has the support of a
sovereign State in advocating one's cause. Historically, realisation of this right has more often
involved a successful campaign of violence or coercion against the party denying the right, and
subsequent recognition by the international community of the legitimacy of the campaign. Clearly, this
situation is not conducive to international peace and security.
The author argues that international criminal law may provide the only effective means of enforcing
legitimate rights to self-determination at this time. This conclusion is drawn with reference to
Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni's theory of five stages through which a human right evolves, from a
mere aspiration, to a right whose breach attracts penal proscriptions. Bassiouni argues that, in
international law, a human right becomes a suitable subject for international criminal law when
effective enforcement modalities for that right have failed.
The thesis concludes with a suggestion that the right to self-determination may be one of the rights
protected under the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, within the definition of the
crime against humanity of "persecution" (article 7(1)(h) & (2)(g)).
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/11328 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Lee, Joanne Elizabeth |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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