The panel will be composed by Professor Nicolas Levrat, Director of the Global Studies Institute of the University of Geneva the University of Geneva, Dr Jamie Trinidad from the University of Cambridge and Dr Júlia Miklasova, former PhD student of our Institute acting as discussant. 

Abstract

Alongside the prohibition of the use of force, self-determination constitutes one of the most important fundamental principles of contemporary international law, and can certainly be described as the most revolutionary one. For the first time in the history of international law, one of its rules recognised the right of certain human communities, the “peoples”, to freely decide their international status, which includes the possibility of independence. The principle of self-determination, however, is not without difficulties, and many questions regarding its scope and content have arisen over time.

The panel discussion aims to address some of these pressing questions, in particular as regards the application of the principle within and beyond the context of decolonization.