Self-Determination of Peoples: A Legal Reappraisal (Hersch Lauterpacht Memorial Lectures, Series Number 12) - Softcover

Cassese, Antonio

Softcover

ISBN 10: 052163752X ISBN 13: 9780521637527

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2008

Synopsis

Which of the peoples currently claiming the right to self-determination have that right under international law? At what point does this political ideal turn into an international legal standard? This first comprehensive legal account asks how far self-determination is reshaping international relations and assesses the extent of its impact on traditional international institutions. The book scrutinizes State practice through national digests and United Nations proceedings and reappraises the concept against the whole body of international law, thus making an important contribution to an understanding of the interplay of law and politics.

About this title

Book Description:

This book traces how the political ideal of self-determination has turned into an international legal standard, assessing its impact on existing legal norms through scrutiny of State practice as shown in national digests and UN proceedings. This primarily legal inquiry looks at law within its historical and political context, illuminating the interplay of law and politics.

Review:

"His [Cassese's] book is the first comprehensive review of the status of self-determination in contemporary international law. Cassese makes his case elegently, with copious documentation, in an extremely useful book." Choice

"This is a scholarly, well-researched and intellectually stimulating book. Each chapter is copiously documented with footnotes and at the end there is an index of names and subjects. The author's analysis is reasoned and well-balanced. It is written in an easily digestible format. It provides the reader with a comprehensive legal account of the right of self determination in its historical and political context and, at the same time, it also makes an important contribution to the study of the interplay of law, history and politics in international relations. I hope that students of international law, relations and political science and policy-makers will find it useful." African Journal of International and Comparative Law

"Self-Determination of Peoples: A Legal Reappraisalby Antonio Cassese, the brilliant international lawyer who has recently served as president of the U.N. Tribunal on War Crimes in the former Yugoslavia, is not a new book, but it's an extremely timely one. First published in 1995, reprinted twice and available in paperback, it's far and away the best, most accessible guide to a concept that, in often subliminal and unarticulated form, propels the policy decisions of politicians, journalists and ordinary citizens." Inquirer

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 052163752X
• ISBN 13: 9780521637527
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 396