ABSTRACT

In international relations, self-determination can be understood as a principle that allows a certain group of people who live in a given territory to have the right to decide who may govern them. Although both are legal and political concepts, sovereignty gives priority to the state whereas self-determination gives pre-eminent place to the people. As there are three agents involved in sovereignty disputes of the kind, the possible solutions can be grouped depending on how they interact among themselves: first, unilateral solutions; second, international-multilateral solutions and third, bilateral solutions. This chapter talks about the International Court of Justice (ICJ) which has international jurisdiction and is multi-competent. According to international law, a trusteeship requires the consent of all the involved agents. Originally conceived for territories under specific circumstances after the First and Second World Wars and under the League of Nations, this model can also be used by voluntary agreement and implies that the United Nations Organization (UN) supervizes the administration.