Search: self-defense
16 Mar Possible Draft of a Framework Agreement on the Restoration of Peaceful Relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation
...powers of local self-government at municipal level within Luhansk and Donetsk, to be established in Ukrainian law. Units of local self-government may exercise their powers in cooperation with one another if they so choose, subject to compliance with the Organic Law on the Special Status. (8) As provided in Annex III, the drafting process of the Organic Law on the Special Status of Luhansk and Donetsk shall be conducted by a Commission, consisting of five representatives of the government of Ukraine and five representatives each of the two principal language...
17 Mar A Self-Reflexive Rebellion: Of Universality and False Empowerment of the Global South
...larger call for de-centering the dominant modes of doing international law research – whether that be the discipline’s epistemological limitations, english-centrism, cultural flattening, or teaching, to name a few. All of these conversations point to the structural asymmetries within the discipline which claims itself to be universal and yet, erases any semblance of the ‘other’. It makes sense, then, as a small act of rebellion for Global North scholars to pursue conversations in a different epistemic register; one that is considerably removed from the discipline’s principal locations of influence and...11 Nov Homage to California? (More on What Calexit Teaches Us About Secessionist Movements)
...secession would have clashed with a cornerstone of the UN, the territorial integrity of states. Outside of the context of decolonization, the right of self-determination for communities that are within already existing states is understood as a right to “internal” self-determination: the pursuit of political, cultural, linguistic, and other rights within the existing state (in this case, the U.S.). However, secession is not in and of itself illegal under international law (although it may be linked to an act that is breach in international law, such as a military intervention...25 Jul AJIL Symposium: Comment on Eyal Benvenisti, Sovereigns as Trustees of Humanity
...argue that there is an obligation on states irrespective of self-interest, potentially even when it is contrary to self-interest. A possible source of such a (non-self-interested) obligation can be identified: the UK, we might say, is under (at least) a moral obligation to implement judgments of the Court of Human Rights because we have (at least) implicitly promised to do so when we joined the Convention system, and violating that promise is, at least prima facie, morally wrong. (It also threatens to undermine our expectation that others will consider themselves...
23 May Development as Domination: Settler Tourism in Western Sahara and the Commodification of Occupied Territories in Trumpist International Law
...and beaches lie on occupied land, within a territory marked by ongoing military hostilities. Western Sahara – a former Spanish colony listed as a Non-Self-Governing Territory since 1963 – has been the subject of competing claims by Morocco and Mauritania, who were largely motivated by its phosphate wealth, and the Algeria-backed national liberation movement “Polisario Front”. On 16 October 1975, the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s Advisory Opinion on Western Sahara determined that the status of Western Sahara should be decided through the self-determination of the Indigenous Sahrawi people. In...26 Mar First Reaction on Medellin, Self-Execution, Etc.
[Mark Weisburd is the Martha M. Brandis Professor of Law at UNC Law School.] I find it difficult to read Medellin as institutionalizing a presumption against self-execution. If that had been Roberts’s intent, the form of his argument should have been, “We presume non self-execution, is there anything to overcome the presumption?” Instead, he analyzed the text, ratification hearings, and practice of other treaty parties to conclude that Art. 94 was not intended to create obligations for domestic courts. The conclusion seems reasonable to me – 94(2)’s according the Security...