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Resolution 1832 (2011) Final version
National sovereignty and statehood in contemporary international law: the need for clarification
1. The Parliamentary Assembly observes
that a number of territorial entities in Council of Europe member states
are aspiring to be recognised as independent states.
2. It notes that the criteria for statehood remain a contentious
issue in contemporary international law.
3. The lack of clear criteria for statehood and for lawful secession
on the one hand, and violations of minority and human rights as
well as the lack of democracy and participation on the other hand,
have encouraged the emergence of numerous secessionist movements
and thereby threaten peace, stability and the territorial integrity
of existing states, including in Europe.
4. The Assembly notes that the notions of national sovereignty
and statehood have evolved in recent years. Key developments were
summed up in 2001 by the high-level International Commission on
Intervention and State Sovereignty (ICISS) under the aegis of the
United Nations and supported by Canada. Its findings were taken
up by the United Nations General Assembly.
5. A multilateral approach to the “responsibility to protect”,
as advocated by the ICISS, is taking the place of arbitrary unilateral
interventions and bilateral guarantees:
5.1. military interventions such as those by Turkey in Cyprus
in 1974, by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1999 and by the Russian Federation
in Georgia in 2008, whilst motivated – justifiably or not – by the
need to stop serious human rights violations, have themselves led
to numerous human rights violations and have not produced lasting solutions
for the underlying problems;
5.2. bilateral guarantees such as those in the context of the
independence of Cyprus have not prevented conflicts. On the contrary,
in the case of Cyprus they were used as an excuse for unilateral military
intervention, conflicting with Article 2.4 of the Charter of the
United Nations and a peremptory norm of international law prohibiting
the use of force.
6. European integration and co-operation have led to a voluntary
transfer of certain aspects of national sovereignty, in particular:
6.1. the rights and freedoms of individuals
are protected by the supervisory mechanism of the European Convention
on Human Rights (ETS No. 5 – the Convention); States Parties to
the Convention have accepted the duty to implement the judgments
of the European Court of Human Rights, with considerations of national
sovereignty being of secondary importance;
6.2. European integration, in particular the introduction of
the euro, the official currency of the eurozone, has entailed the
transfer to the European Union of a number of sectors which were traditionally
under national sovereignty, particularly in matters of economic
and monetary policies, and is increasingly affecting choices of
fiscal and social policies. Increasing economic integration is having similar
effects even on countries which are not members of the eurozone
or the European Union.
7. The Assembly considers that even if international law were
to recognise a right of national or ethnic minorities or even, in
some cases, national majorities, to self-determination, such a right
would not give rise to an automatic right to secession. The right
to self-determination should first and foremost be implemented by way
of the protection of minority rights as foreseen in the Council
of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
(ETS No. 157) and Assembly Resolution 1334 (2003) on positive experiences of
autonomous regions as a source of inspiration for conflict resolution
in Europe, as well as in other relevant instruments of international
law.
8. The Assembly therefore:
8.1. reiterates
its invitation to those member states which have not yet done so
to sign, ratify and implement the aforementioned framework convention
and to respect the basic principles set out in Assembly Resolution
1334 (2003) as soon as possible;
8.2. will continue to analyse the origin and trends of self-determination
movements by addressing the most salient factors, in particular
instances of growing tensions among minority or ethnic groups, and
to support national parliaments in addressing these demands for
self-determination through dialogue and reconciliation, in order
to prevent recourse to violence and secession;
8.3. invites all member states to refrain from recognising
or supporting in any way the de facto authorities
of territories resulting from unlawful secessions, in particular
those supported by foreign military interventions;
8.4. notes that conflicts should be solved exclusively by peaceful
means on the basis of international law;
8.5. proposes that the criteria for statehood, including those
for the emergence of new states by legal secession, and the modalities
of protection of national sovereignty and territorial integrity
of states be examined thoroughly in the framework of a follow-up
conference to the International Commission on Intervention and State
Sovereignty.