The ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Kosovo: Has International Law Something to Say About Secession?
The Interest Group on Peace and Security (IGPS) will be holding a workshop on The ICJ Advisory Opinion on the Unilateral Declaration of Independence of Kosovo on Thursday 2nd September 2010, in Cambridge, just before the opening of the 4th Biennial Conference of the European Society of International Law.
On 17 February 2008 the provisional institutions of self-government of Kosovo proceeded to a unilateral declaration of independence. International reaction has been rather mixed. As of 19 May 2010, 69 States have formally recognized Kosovo as a new independent State, whereas the majority of UN Member States has not recognized Kosovo. On the legal ground, a dispute arose about interpretation of classical rules of international law (self-determination, territorial integrity, recognition, non-interference in domestic affairs, definition of a State) and of relevant norms adopted within the framework of the international administration of Kosovo put in place by the Security Council in 1999 (SC Res 1244 (1999)). On 8 October 2008, the General Assembly requested an Advisory Opinion from the Court on the “Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo”. The Court is now deliberating and will deliver its Advisory Opinion in the next few months.
This workshop of the IGPS will provide an opportunity to comment on this important opinion. Participants will be invited to discuss the impact of this Opinion and of this case to International Law and the relevance of contemporary international legal rules in dealing with secession. Participants to this workshop include many academics working in the fields of self-determination/international administration of territories:
Dr. Theodore Christakis, Professor, University of Grenoble
Dr. Olivier Corten, Professor, Free University of Brussels
Dr. Marcelo Kohen, Professor, Graduate Institute of International Studies
Dr. Anne Peters, Professor, University of Basel
Dr. Marc Weller, Reader, University of Cambridge
Dr. Ralph Wilde, Reader, University College London
For further information, to register your interest in the event, or to join the IGPS please visit the IGPS website (https://igps.wordpress.com/) or contact Professor Theodore Christakis (Christakis@wanadoo.fr).
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