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The Harper Government, the Aboriginal Right to Self-Determination, and the Indian Act of 1876
Onderková, Kristýna ; Fiřtová, Magdalena (advisor) ; Anděl, Petr (referee)
In its relatively unchanged form and effective for nearly 140 years the Indian Act of 1876 is the basic law governing the rights and responsibilities of First Nations and their status within Canada. The law protects the special status of Indigenous groups in Canadian society albeit it has been criticized as discriminatory. Voices calling for change of the legislation are growing stronger with the deepening socio-economic problems of Aboriginal peoples. First Nations primarily require the assertion of their constitutional right to self-determination in any future reform. In contrast, the current Conservative government of Stephen Harper emphasizes self- sufficiency and financial responsibility of Native peoples. Legislative actions that Conservatives rarely consult with representatives of the Indigenous peoples themselves correspond to the general priorities of the Harper Government based on the principles of market economy and do not reflect the demands for self-determination and self-government of Indigenous communities. The Idle No More protest movement founded in 2012 in reaction to some of Harper's laws pertaining to Aboriginal peoples fights for their rights and environmental protection inextricably linked with their identity. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze different perspectives on...
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Separatist conflict: comparative study of Sri Lanka and Aceh, Indonesia
Bartošová, Kateřina ; Karásek, Tomáš (advisor) ; Kučera, Tomáš (referee)
The aim of the master thesis is to determine factors that contribute to peace settlement of separatist conflicts. It compares two separatist conflicts with different forms of termination. The Indonesian government signed a peace agreement with separatists in province of Aceh and offered them greater autonomy, whereas the government of Sri Lanka decided on military suppression of Tamil separatists. The analysis of the conflicts is based on six factors that are built on the study of Barbara Walter about the concept of reputation building. According to the concept, governments are less likely to go for peace settlement when facing more imperilling separatist groups, seeing that governments have to invest in reputation building. The comparative case study is based on following factors: potential future separatists, value of land currently under dispute, proportion of total population and territory, balance of power between separatists and government, political system with focus on democracy, degree of centralization/ federalism. The evidence seems to be strong that the theory of reputation building does not apply to selected cases because the peace settlement was achieved in Indonesia which has far more potential separatist groups than Sri Lanka. In conclusion, the thesis identifies following factors...
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Gibraltar in international relations
Vodenka, Aleš ; Kochan, Jan (advisor) ; Žalek, Lukáš (referee)
This Bachelor thesis addresses the status of Gibraltar in international relations. The issue is examined in the context of the process of decolonization. I have concentrated primarily on the analysis of development and current position of this British Overseas Territory. The territory is significantly affected by a sovereignty dispute between Britain and Spain since the second half of the last century. The thesis presents a framework of the question of Gibraltar, which aims to the ability to decide if it is currently possible to consider the territory to be de facto decolonized. Theoretically, Gibraltar is still on the UN list of Non-Self-Governing Territories, i.e. subject to the decolonization process. From understanding the concept of decolonization, the analysis of the politico historical development of Gibraltar, putting the issue into framework of the UN and examining arguments of the relevant parties in connection with the territorial dispute I come to the conclusion that it is the persisting dispute which keeps the territory from being internationally recognized as decolonized. But - considering the right to self-determination a paramount principle of international law - it is paradoxical that not only did the Gibraltarians speak out in favour of the present status of their country, but they also contributed to shaping it, which implies that they currently do not consider themselves a residue of colonial rule.
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Medzinárodneprávne postavenie Západnej Sahary
Turányi, Samuel ; Kochan, Jan (advisor) ; Pavlicová, Vendula (referee)
The submitted thesis deals with the international legal personality of Western Sahara. It aims to analyse the status of Western Sahara in terms of international law and international politics. It also tries to review attitudes of all relevant and important actors and outline possible future scenarios in the region. The theoretical part involves the question of international legal person-ality, sovereignty of the state, its recognition and the focus is put mainly on the concept of the right to self-determination. This long-standing conflict between the representatives of Moroc-co and the Polisario Front results in the suffering of Sahrawi people and any significant shift towards the solution is yet nowhere to be seen. Except for the neighbouring states, actors who internationally intervene are for example Spain, France and the USA. Since the agreed cease-fire between both parties in 1991 decolonization of Western Sahara has still not taken place and various proposals to solve the conflict are constantly being refused by either of sides up to this day.
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Nation versus State: A Case Study of Kosovo
Kešelj, Nina ; Zemanová, Štěpánka (advisor) ; Cibulková, Petra (referee)
The bachelor thesis analyses legal and political aspects of Kosovo's secession from Republic of Serbia in attempt to determine if it is really sui generis, as it used to be claimed by the Kosovo's independence supporters. The theoretical part analyses the basic Constitutional and International Law requirements that a state is supposed to meet in order to reach international recognition. Besides, it provides a description of different forms of right of self - determination and discusses the circumstances, under which a nation would be entitled to claim a remedial secession from the home state. The empirical part examines specific circumstances of the former Yugoslavia's disintegration and the legal position of Kosovo as an autonomous province of Serbia in the period from 1974 -- 1999, in attempt to determine if Kosovo Albanians have ever had a legal entitlement to the secession from Serbia. Besides, in order to enquire whether Kosovo's secession could be considered an example of the remedial secession, the work provides a historical analysis of the Albanian-Serbian relations in Kosovo, with a highlight on the period from the Second World War on, as well as the analysis of the war crimes and alleged organ trafficking, that has recently re-emerged in the Council of Europe.
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The Right of Peoples to Self-determination as a Factor of International Relations
Drahoňovská, Soňa ; Veselý, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Dubský, Zbyněk (referee)
This paper explores the current understanding of the right of peoples to self-determination and its impact on international relations. A number of new states have gained international recognition outside the scope of decolonisation, several of which have not fulfilled the usual criteria for statehood, based on existing state practice. In addition, the parent states of Bangladesh, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Kosovo have not consented to the secession of these territories. The main purpose of this paper is to determine whether based on the stipulations of international documents and mainly on existing state practice, it is possible to verify the existence of a customary law enabling peoples to unilaterally secede. Such a right would pose a threat to the future application of the principle of territorial integrity as one of the basic principles of international relations. In order to answer this question I compare case studies of successful and unsuccessful nations striving for their own state outside the realm of decolonisation. Based on this comparison I analyse the current understanding of the right to self-determination and its impact on international relations. I conclude by stating that it is not possible to unambiguously confirm the existence of such a right. However, in practice the principle of territorial integrity is being breached nonetheless, due to persisting uncertainties regarding the possible application of secession by peoples whose internal right to self-determination was not respected. Together with the fact that the current concept of self-determination ignores collective rights of national groups, this poses a threat to international stability.
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The Future of Western Sahara
Juklová, Jana ; Kváča, Vladimír (advisor) ; Kochan, Jan (referee)
The thesis deals with the international law situation of Western Sahara. It analyses the historical development of Western Sahara, in particular its decolonization, and by means of the analysis of the proposed solutions it tries to reach the actual status of the area and outlines some possibilities of the future development. The right of self-determination of Saharawi people is the key issue and appears in many resolutions of the United Nations dealing with Western Sahara. This territory is the topic of long-lasting disputes between Morocco and the Front Polisario. Attempts to solve the problem have lasted for many years but there has been almost no advance because of the different attitudes of the parties. Not only neighbouring countries but also other states with the special interests in the region interfere in the negotiations. Since 1991, when the ceasefire came into effect after many years of the military conflict, the proposals of solution have been refused.
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Edvard Beneš and the Czechoslovakian-German Relations
Holeček, Jan ; Rataj, Jan (advisor) ; Veselý, Zdeněk (referee)
Práce se zabývá reinterpretací československých dějin zejména podle sudetoněmeckého revizionistického vzoru. Zabývá se tím, kdo ze současných českých autorů tento pokřivený mediální obraz hlásá, na koho tito autoři navazují a do jaké míry se jejich pohled vzdaluje realitě. Protože každý mýtus týkající se Edvarda Beneše a česko(slovensko)-německých vztahů má svůj historický kořen, analyzuje tato práce i historické pozadí první Československé republiky. Ze současných témat se práce zabývá vstupem ČR do EU a novými strategiemi Sudetoněmeckého landsmanšaftu v rámci evropského integračního procesu.
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