- Title
- Law protecting rights: restoring the law of self-determination in the neo-classical world
- Creator
- Maguire, Amy
- Relation
- Law Text Culture Vol. 12, p. 12-39
- Relation
- http://www.uow.edu.au/law/LIRC/LTC/UOW050867.html
- Publisher
- University of Wollongong
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2008
- Description
- This paper explores the contemporary status and role of the collective human right of self-determination, with particular reference to the case studies of nationalists in (the North of) Ireland and Indigenous peoples in Australia. I argue that international law does not offer sufficient protection for the right of self-determination, and consequently powerful states frequently ignore or marginalise claims to the right. By demonstrating that contemporary claimant peoples continue to experience forms of colonialism in the present, I advocate a renewed focus on the decolonising mission of self-determination. This focus requires that international law itself be decolonised. Key means of achieving this goal include enabling the variety of legitimate manifestations of the right of self-determination, breaking down the artificial opposition between ‘internal’ and ‘external’ self-determination, and empowering peoples through the development of an inclusive international legal system. If the law of self-determination is to adequately protect rights, the interests of all peoples affected by a self-determination claim must be addressed. I promote Robert McCorquodale’s ‘human rights’ approach to self-determination as a means of moving beyond the stifling question of ‘Who is the self?’ towards twenty-first century self-determination solutions. This approach requires self-determination claims to be evaluated on their merits, and promotes a process of negotiating the right which is better adapted to achieving rights-based solutions for all interested parties.
- Subject
- self-determination; colonialism; international law; human rights
- Identifier
- uon:6431
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/803552
- Identifier
- ISSN:1322-9060
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