Explain and comment on the proposition that the doctrine of the right Essay

Explain and comment on the proposition that the doctrine of the right of self-determination of peoples includes the legal entitl - Essay Example According to Franck (1990), symbolic validation and pedigree provide the cultural and anthropological dimension to legitimacy. Democratic entitlement has to shift to voluntary compliance, which depends on the strength of Reisman’s (1981) â€Å"the authority signal†. The legitimacy of a rule is based on its durability and consistency. Self-determination has a well-established pedigree, because it is the oldest aspect of the democratic entitlement. Self-determination asserts the right of a people in a particular territory â€Å"to determine its collective political destiny in a democratic fashion, and is therefore at the core of the democratic entitlement† (Franck 1992: 52). Thesis Statement: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the proposition that the doctrine of the right for self-determination of people includes the legal entitlement to democratic governance. Self determination among indigenous peoples will be examined on the basis of the United Nations Gene ral Assembly resolutions, and other relevant concepts will be investigated. The Need for Self-Determination in International Law Self determination has developed from its modest beginnings in the United Nations Charter to â€Å"a legal entitlement of decolonization and to a free-standing human right† (Higgins 1995: 115). ... ermination of Jews during the Holocaust, followed by mass killing of gypsies or Romas and other groups, mass deportation to clean out unpopular ethnic groups, the Potsdam Agreement in 1945 between Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom authorizing the expulsion of some fifteen million people of German ethnic origin who had been citizens in different parts of Europe, and other large-scale forced transfers during the same period of turmoil. A new international legal order based on pluralism and tolerance was developed. The International Bill of Human Rights emphasized the equality of all human beings â€Å"irrespective of national or ethnic origin – and also irrespective of race, religion and gender† (Tomuschat 1992: 152). States were responsible for securing human rights in their own domestic system; and their autonomy was understood as popular sovereignty. In article 21 of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the authority of government would be based on the will of the people, which they will express through periodic, genuine and fair voting procedures. â€Å"Consequently, democratic governance was an essential component – both a precondition and a right in itself† (Tomuschat 1992: 152). The right of peoples to self-determination was introduced in the Covenants mainly with decolonization as an aim. At the same time, the underlying rationale for self-determination is that of popular sovereignty based on people governing themselves. The most important principle of international law is that of territorial integrity, the maintenance of the inherited State and of the population residing in that State. Changes can be introduced only when there are justified claims of self-determination; and the international community has to clarify for whom the principle