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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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Unilateral secession in international law
Chowdhary, Chetan ; Lipovský, Milan (advisor) ; Pulgret, Miroslav (referee)
4 Bibliographic note CHOWDHARY Chetan, Unilateral Secession in International Law: The cases of Kashmir and Catalonia, 84 p. Master thesis. Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of International Relations. Supervisor: JUDr. Milan Lipovsky, Ph.D. Abstract: In the recent times, unilateral secession in International Law has come under widespread discussion with the major issues revolving around the circumstances under which a minority group or sub-state can secede from the state incorporating it. The study focuses on the principles of self-determination, an important factor to secede from a state over which international law has an ambiguous stand. International Law regards unilateral secession to be legal only in the aspects of decolonization as a last resort, that is one of the reasons why Kosovo remains unrecognized by the United Nations. The study focuses on two important cases i.e. Kashmir and Catalonia and compares them with Kosovo and Western Sahara respectively to understand the stance of International law on their demands for secession. The examination of these cases reveals that historical violence and injustice are not the only factors influencing the secessionist demands in Kashmir; similarly, the reasons for the demand for secession in Catalonia extend beyond collective identity...
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Politics of state sovereignty: the US foreign policy towards Georgia and Serbia
Savić, Mihajlo ; Riegl, Martin (advisor) ; Landovský, Jakub (referee)
Research conducted in this thesis revolves around the issue of state sovereignty. More precisely, this thesis aims at examining the foreign policy of the United States of America and its impact on sovereignty of Georgia and Serbia. Different attitude towards the recognition of unilateral declarations of independence of South Ossetia and Kosovo, breakaway regions of Georgia and Serbia, by the US officials represents the starting point of this study. Following state-centric approach this thesis presents an assessment of bilateral relations between the USA and case study countries Georgia and Serbia. The purpose of this study is to enable better understanding of different approaches by the US officials towards the issue of respecting state sovereignty.
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The Status of Palestinian Refugees and Their Right to Return in International Law
Hanko, Jitka ; Šturma, Pavel (advisor) ; Bílková, Veronika (referee) ; Jílek, Dalibor (referee)
The situation of Palestinian refugees is one of the most burning issues related to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Its solution is at the same time one of the key conditions for the settlement of this conflict, whose beginning may be traced back already in connection with the first alija - the first wave of Jewish immigration after the anti - Semitic pogroms in 1881. The importance of this problem is confirmed e.g. by the text of the Resolution 242 (S/RES/242) of 1967, which considers the upright solution for Palestinian refugees as one of the prerequisites for lasting peace in the Middle East. This question has been subject of many peace negotiations between the representatives of the concerned states lately, which only illustrates the high international topicality of the given problem. The aim of the dissertation is to define the term Palestinian refugee in the historic, political and legal context and in this connection to determine the position of Palestinian refugees in international law as an initial point, which is followed by the international law analysis of their right to return. First part of the study therefore will try to make a systematic overview in the extent of the term Palestinian refugee. The second part of the dissertation analyses the right of return in the general level and then...
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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) ; Kýrová, Lucie (referee)
A debate on the reform of the frequently criticized Indian Act of 1876 - the basic law governing the rights and responsibilities of First Nations and their special status within Canada - has been getting more intense with the ongoing socio-economic problems of Aboriginal peoples. Whereas the previous Canadian government of Stephen Harper emphasized self-sufficiency and financial responsibility, First Nations have required the assertion of their constitutional rights to self-determination and self-government in any reform. This piece of work examines various proposals to reform the Indian Act and their potential effect on the status of First Nations. It focuses on Aboriginal policy stances of the Harper Government and the First Nations' reaction to the federal government's approach. In particular, it analyzes the ideas and demands of the Idle No More protest movement that emerged in response to some of the legislative proposals of the Harper Government. The author concludes by arguing that any effort to change the unfavorable situation of Aboriginal peoples in Canada would run into problems because of the discrepancy of ideas of the Conservative Government and First Nations on how to implement the reform of the Indian Act and how to enforce the right to self- determination.
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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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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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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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