Parting the long grass: Public International law and the right to self determination

Abstract

The right to self-determination is perhaps one of the most fundamental group rights entrenched, espoused and conferred by various international legal instruments. However, it is also axiomatic that the right to self-determination has been used as a rickety chariot for the conveyance of fallacious and contesting ideologies. It is indeed arguable that the right to self-determination is one of the most over used and at times abused terms. The enormous political and emotional overtones have tended to cloak and cloud the precise nature, scope of operation as well as limits to the right to self-determination. To further exacerbate the uncertainty and malaise have been the contra distinct and varied perceptions regarding the existence of an external right to self-determination. The object of this writing will therefore be to explore the various legal instruments, judicial decisions and various state practices in an attempt to proffer an exposition of the meaning, nature of the right to self-determination as well as the limits thereto.