The Right to Self-Determination in International Law

Thomas Weatherall is an Attorney-Adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser for Diplomatic Law and Litigation of the U.S. Department of State. Prior to that assignment, he served in the Office of the Legal Adviser for Human Rights and Refugees, where he advised on the right to self-determination. He has also served as an Alternate Representative in the U.S. Mission to the Organization of American States, representing the United States before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in that capacity, and was an Adviser and Expert Negotiator in the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, where he represented the United States in delegations to the U.N. General Assembly Third Committee. Dr Weatherall holds a J.D. from Georgetown University, a Ph.D. in International Law from the University of Cambridge, an M.Sc. in Global Governance and Diplomacy from the University of Oxford, and a B.A. in International Studies from the Johns Hopkins University.

...offers a comprehensive and systematic analysis of one of the foundational principles of contemporary international law.

• Introduction PART I. SOURCES 1: Historical Antecedents 2: International Instruments 3: Resolutions and Declarations 4: International Court of Justice Judgments and Opinions 5: Normative Status of Self-Determination PART II. CONTENT 6: Peoples: Subjects and Beneficiaries of the Right to Self-Determination 7: The International Aspect of Self-Determination 8: The Domestic Aspect of Self-Determination 9: States: Subjects of Obligations under the Right to Self-Determination PART III. PRACTICE 10: The United Nations 11: International Dispute Settlement 12: Implementation and Enforcement Conclusion Appendix 1: Former Trust Territories and Non-Self-Governing Territories Appendix 2: Non-Self-Governing Territories