Self-Determination and International Instruments

Chapter Summary

This chapter is a survey of international instruments on self-determination. It gives the reader a thorough account of provisions of the main instruments on the right in international law and their drafting. The chapter also examines how these instruments have been shaped by the interaction between nationalism and international law. Article 40 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides for states parties to submit reports to the Human Rights Committee on their implementation of rights in the Covenant. The chapter argues that states are affected by nationalist considerations of legitimacy in the drafting of instruments. The UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples these considerations have actually been directly articulated. This declaration is unique among the instruments covered in that its drafting includes representatives of indigenous groups and these delegates have challenged the position of states with nationalist arguments.

Keywords: Human Rights Covenants; indigenous peoples; international instruments; International law; nationalism; self-determination