Towards the Draſt Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination and Forms of its Realization

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. This article elaborates on the idea of Professor Y.A.Reshetov, who published in the Moscow Journal of International Law a draſt convention on the right of peoples to self-determination. The draſt convention has been one of the first attempts to draw attention to the problem of the limits of self-determination in plural States, the forms of implementation and the main subjects of the right of self-determination. The purpose of the study is to develop the relevant ideas of Y.A.R.Reshetov, as well as to introduce new ideas, taking into account the evolving processes of realization of the right to self-determination in the modern world.MATERIAL AND METHODS. The study is based on international legal instruments, advisory opinions of the International Court of Justice, the jurisprudence of other international legal bodies and contemporary research of domestic and foreign scholars. The methods used in this study are: analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction, comparison, classification, systematization, prediction, as well as comparative and formal legal approaches.RESEARCH RESULTS. The territorial disputes resulting from ethnic, regional and local conflicts are among the most pressing problems in international relations. For any multi-ethnic State, including Russia, it is extremely important to have a genuine scientific awareness of the principle of equality and self-determination of peoples, adequate forms of its implementation, and structuring ethnic identity in the system of civil identity. Exploring for well-founded solutions to the matters involved will help consolidate world public opinion and ultimately develop an appropriate international legal mechanism under the auspices of the United Nations.DISCUSION AND CONCLUSION. The articles analyses the evolution of the idea of self-determination of peoples, the place of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples in the system of basic principles of international law. The range of subjects of the right to self-determination, the specifics of secession, institutions of uti possidetis juris, and of delays in secession, as well as questions on the forms and criteria of self-determination of the principal subjects and the phenomenon of «unrecognized States», author draſted the relevant Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Self-determination and the Modalities for its Implementation.