Self-Determination of Peoples: A Legal Reappraisal

by Antonio Cassese

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521637527
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	11/12/1998
Series:	Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures , #12
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	396
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 8.94(h) x 0.91(d)

Table of Contents

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 impact of self-determination on traditional international law; 9. Testing international law - some particularly controversial issues; 10. The role of self-determination in the recent break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia; Part IV. The New Trends Emerging in the World Community: 11. Attempts at expanding self-determination; Part V. General Stocktaking: 12. Recapitulation and conclusion.

Editorial Reviews

"His [Cassese's] book is the first comprehensive review of the status of self-determination in contemporary international law. Cassese makes his case elegently, with copious documentation, in an extremely useful book." Choice

"This is a scholarly, well-researched and intellectually stimulating book. Each chapter is copiously documented with footnotes and at the end there is an index of names and subjects. The author's analysis is reasoned and well-balanced. It is written in an easily digestible format. It provides the reader with a comprehensive legal account of the right of self determination in its historical and political context and, at the same time, it also makes an important contribution to the study of the interplay of law, history and politics in international relations. I hope that students of international law, relations and political science and policy-makers will find it useful." African Journal of International and Comparative Law

"Self-Determination of Peoples: A Legal Reappraisalby Antonio Cassese, the brilliant international lawyer who has recently served as president of the U.N. Tribunal on War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia, is not a new book, but it's an extremely timely one. First published in 1995, reprinted twice and available in paperback, it's far and away the best, most accessible guide to a concept that, in often subliminal and unarticulated form, propels the policy decisions of politicians, journalists and ordinary citizens." Inquirer

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