An update on recent events in the climate regime, and the connected entry into force of the Kigal... more An update on recent events in the climate regime, and the connected entry into force of the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, given in the Referentenbesprechung of the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law on the 11th February 2019.
An overview of four matters recently decided by the Internaitonal Court of Justice between Costa ... more An overview of four matters recently decided by the Internaitonal Court of Justice between Costa Rica and Nicaragua: - Certain Activities Carried out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v Nicaragua) - Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v Costa Rica) - Maritime Delimitation in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean (Costa Rica v Nicaragua) - Land Boundary in the Northern Part of the Isla Portillos (Costa Rica v Nicaragua)
Which communities have a right to self-determine? And what might the right to self-determination... more Which communities have a right to self-determine? And what might the right to self-determination entitle those who invoke it to do? These are amongst international law’s most persistent unanswered questions. Although self-determination has been a central issue in no fewer than five contentious cases and advisory proceedings before the ICJ, the questions which surround the concept seem to defy satisfactory resolution. In the autumn of 2017 questions of self-determination will again come to the fore. The long-anticipated and intensely controversial independence referendum in Catalonia is scheduled for the 1st October, while a vote on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan that could have significant consequences for the stability of the region is expected to take place on the 25th September. These events coincide with another opportunity for the ICJ to pronounce on self-determination, in the form of the advisory proceedings on the legality of the United Kingdom’s separation of the Chagos archipelago from its colonial possession of Mauritius prior to the latter’s independence. This paper will discuss the forthcoming referenda in Catalonia and Kurdistan, and the situation of the Chagos Islands within a framework of a four-part typology of self-determination. It will place these events in the context of the history of self-determination claims, and will consider the legality of any potential secessions as well as the possible outcomes of the advisory proceedings. It will finish by considering the potential of these events to develop international law.
In the early hours of 24 June 2016 it was announced that the European referendum in the United Ki... more In the early hours of 24 June 2016 it was announced that the European referendum in the United Kingdom had returned a slim majority in favour of Brexit. The decision has been felt not least in Scotland, where calls for a second independence referendum have been heard with renewed force. The future of Scotland now seems highly uncertain, and the likely relationship between Scotland and the major treaty regimes of Europe in the event of independence is not the least of those uncertainties. Newly independent States always face a future filled with imponderables, but the likely scope of their international law rights and obligations should not be among them. This paper will assess the rules on treaty succession applicable to bilateral, multipartite, membership and human rights agreements, and will highlight the gaps and uncertainties in the current law. In particular, it will discuss the crucial distinction between those multipartite treaties characterised as “multilateral”, and those characterised as “plurilateral”, and will offer a working definition of those terms. Finally, it will examine the major European treaties and set out the likely legal position of an independent Scotland under the TEU and TFEU, the EEA Agreement and the ECHR according to the international law of succession. In conclusion, the paper will argue that the timing of any Scottish secession would have a crucial bearing on the extent of the rights and obligations it can expect to enjoy and be subject to under the European treaties.
The concept of sovereignty is one of the foundation stones of the international legal order, and ... more The concept of sovereignty is one of the foundation stones of the international legal order, and its application continues to touch every aspect of international activity. Nowhere is its influence more obvious than in relation to the vexed questions that arise in cases of secession and other territorial re-organisations. Although sovereignty is seen as a necessary part of the international legal system, it represents a claim to unregulated power on the part of States which stands in tension with the existence of international law. This paper, part of work in progress, will revisit the philosophical justification of the concept and, in particular, the ‘argument from incoherence’, and will seek to show that the example of secession can aid in demonstrating that sovereignty lacks a coherent theoretical justification.
Uploads
Talks by Tom Sparks
- Certain Activities Carried out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v Nicaragua)
- Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v Costa Rica)
- Maritime Delimitation in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean (Costa Rica v Nicaragua)
- Land Boundary in the Northern Part of the Isla Portillos (Costa Rica v Nicaragua)
In the autumn of 2017 questions of self-determination will again come to the fore. The long-anticipated and intensely controversial independence referendum in Catalonia is scheduled for the 1st October, while a vote on the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan that could have significant consequences for the stability of the region is expected to take place on the 25th September. These events coincide with another opportunity for the ICJ to pronounce on self-determination, in the form of the advisory proceedings on the legality of the United Kingdom’s separation of the Chagos archipelago from its colonial possession of Mauritius prior to the latter’s independence.
This paper will discuss the forthcoming referenda in Catalonia and Kurdistan, and the situation of the Chagos Islands within a framework of a four-part typology of self-determination. It will place these events in the context of the history of self-determination claims, and will consider the legality of any potential secessions as well as the possible outcomes of the advisory proceedings. It will finish by considering the potential of these events to develop international law.
Newly independent States always face a future filled with imponderables, but the likely scope of their international law rights and obligations should not be among them. This paper will assess the rules on treaty succession applicable to bilateral, multipartite, membership and human rights agreements, and will highlight the gaps and uncertainties in the current law. In particular, it will discuss the crucial distinction between those multipartite treaties characterised as “multilateral”, and those characterised as “plurilateral”, and will offer a working definition of those terms. Finally, it will examine the major European treaties and set out the likely legal position of an independent Scotland under the TEU and TFEU, the EEA Agreement and the ECHR according to the international law of succession. In conclusion, the paper will argue that the timing of any Scottish secession would have a crucial bearing on the extent of the rights and obligations it can expect to enjoy and be subject to under the European treaties.