Self-determination

Self-determination is a principle in international law that a people ought to be able to determine their own governmental forms and structure free from outside influence.

Self-determination is the free choice of one’s own acts without external compulsion. In politics it is seen as the freedom of the people of a given territory or national grouping to determine their own political status and how they will be governed without undue influence from any other country. There are conflicting definitions and legal criteria for determining which groups may legitimately claim the right to self-determination.

Cardinal principle in modern international law principles of international law The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a jus cogens rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It states that people, based on respect for the principle of equal rights and fair equality of opportunity , have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no interference. The concept was first expressed in the 1860s, and spread rapidly thereafter. During and after World War I , the principle was encouraged by both Vladimir Lenin and United States President Woodrow Wilson . Having announced his Fourteen Points on 8 January 1918, on 11 February 1918 Wilson stated: "National aspirations must be respected; people may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent. 'Self determination' is not a mere phrase; it is an imperative principle of action." During World War II , the principle was included in the Atlantic Charter , declared on 14 August 1941, by Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, and Winston Churchill , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who pledged The Eight Principal points of the Charter. It was recognized as an international legal right after it was explicitly listed as a right in the UN Charter. The principle does not state how the decision is to be made, nor what the outcome should be, whether it be independence , federation , protection , some form of autonomy or full assimilation . Neither does it state what the delimitation between peoples should be—nor what constitutes a people . There are conflicting definitions and legal criteria for determining which groups may legitimately claim the right to self-determination. By extension, the term self-determination has come to mean the free choice of one's own acts without external compulsion. A History of the Self-Determination of Peoples: The Domestication of an Illusion . See : Clause 3 of the Atlantic Charter reads: "Third, they respect the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them" then became one of the eight cardinal principal points of the Charter all people had a right to self-determination.

Principle in international law; the right of people to freely choose their sovereignty This article is about self-determination in international law. The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a jus cogens rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter 's norms. It states that peoples, based on respect for the principle of equal rights and fair equality of opportunity , have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no interference. Mollucan protesters against the treatment of Suharto's government to East Timor, in The Hague, Netherlands, 1986. The concept was first expressed in the 1860s, and spread rapidly thereafter. During and after World War I , the principle was encouraged by both Soviet Premier Vladimir Lenin and United States President Woodrow Wilson . Having announced his Fourteen Points on 8 January 1918, on 11 February 1918 Wilson stated: "National aspirations must be respected; people may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent. 'Self determination' is not a mere phrase; it is an imperative principle of action." During World War II , the principle was included in the Atlantic Charter , jointly declared on 14 August 1941 by Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, and Winston Churchill , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who pledged The Eight Principal points of the Charter. It was recognized as an international legal right after it was explicitly listed as a right in the UN Charter . The principle does not state how the decision is to be made, nor what the outcome should be, whether it be independence , federation , protection , some form of autonomy or full assimilation . Neither does it state what the delimitation between peoples should be—nor what constitutes a people . There are conflicting definitions and legal criteria for determining which groups may legitimately claim the right to self-determination. Lumads in Davao City marching for the right to self-determination as part of the human rights in Philippines in 2008. A History of the Self-Determination of Peoples: The Domestication of an Illusion . See : Clause 3 of the Atlantic Charter reads: "Third, they respect the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live; and they wish to see sovereign rights and self government restored to those who have been forcibly deprived of them" then became one of the eight cardinal principal points of the Charter all people had a right to self-determination.

Right of all people to freely participate in the political procedures of their government This article is about self-determination in international law. Self-determination refers to a people 's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage . Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law , binding, as such, on the United Nations as an authoritative interpretation of the Charter 's norms. The principle does not state how the decision is to be made, nor what the outcome should be (whether independence , federation , protection , some form of autonomy or full assimilation ), and the right of self-determination does not necessarily include a right to an independent state for every ethnic group within a former colonial territory. Further, no right to secession is recognized under international law. Moluccans in The Hague protesting Indonesia under Suharto 's treatment of East Timor , calling for freedom for East Timor , Papua , Aceh and Maluku , 1986 The concept emerged with the rise of nationalism in the 19th century and came into prominent use in the 1860s, spreading rapidly thereafter. During and after World War I , the principle was encouraged by both Soviet Premier Vladimir Lenin and United States President Woodrow Wilson . Having announced his Fourteen Points on 8 January 1918, on 11 February 1918 Wilson stated: "National aspirations must be respected; people may now be dominated and governed only by their own consent. 'Self determination' is not a mere phrase; it is an imperative principle of action." However, neither Wilson and Lloyd George nor Lenin and Trotsky considered the peoples of the Global South as the main target for their statements supporting self-determination. Nevertheless, their rhetoric resonated far beyond the European audiences they aimed to reach. During World War II , the principle was included in the Atlantic Charter , jointly declared on 14 August 1941 by Franklin D. Roosevelt , President of the United States, and Winston Churchill , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, who pledged The Eight Principal points of the Charter. It was recognized as an international legal right after it was explicitly listed as a right in the UN Charter . Implementing the right to self-determination can be politically difficult, in part because there are multiple interpretations of what constitutes a people and which groups may legitimately claim the right to self-determination. As World Court judge Ivor Jennings put it: "the people cannot decide until somebody decides who are the people". Encyclopedia of International Development . "External" self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and "internal" self-determination refers to the right to have a representative government with effective participation in the political process...The right to self-determination was at first limited to colonial territories' right to external self-determination. The right was made secondary to territorial integrity and national unity, effective "locking" colonial boundaries. In 1970, the right to self-determination was expanded to apply beyond colonial situations. This declaration linked self-determination's internal and external aspects by suggesting that a racial or religious group denied equal participation in the political process would be entitled to external self-determination, voiding the principle that territorial integrity or national unity should not be threatened in extreme cases. The Vienna Declaration (1993) broaded this argument to include ethnic groups denied effective political participation. While representation and effective participation is usually enough to satisfy a people's right to self-determination, a people may have the right to external self-determination when those conditions are not met. Encyclopedia of International Relations and Global Politics . Since the end of decolonization, it has become clear that the diplomatic compromises that facilitated the transfer of political authority during that era are now obsolete. Today, the principle of self-determination lacks both definition and applicability. Saving it from a complete descent into incoherence will require a renewal of the links between autonomy, democracy, human rights and the right to self-determination. Central to cultivating this renewal should be the adoption of a more liberal and expansive interpretation of the meaning of self-determination. Self-determination does not have to mean irredentism, secession and the violent renegotiation of territorial frontiers. The promotion of minority rights, devolution, federalism and greater acknowledgement of the legitimacy of cultural self-expression are all expressions of self-determination. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Self-Determination . Encyclopedia of Democratic Thought . At present, international law is ambiguous regarding the right to secede. Some documents assert that self-determination is a fundamental right, but in practice the United Nations and other international organisations have very rarely recognized breakaway states, and the trend at the turn of the millennium seems to be toward increasing the opposition to separatism, largely as a result of the grave effects observable in most cases where it has been attempted. One ICJ judge, Rosalyn Higgins, has written that there is no legal right of secession where there is representative government. However, some other experts disagree, adding that self-determination is justifiable where there is representative government but the minority nevertheless faces severe human rights violations. A History of the Self-Determination of Peoples: The Domestication of an Illusion . In Breuilly, John (ed.). The Oxford Handbook of the History of Nationalism .