Caucuses in the Caucasus: The Application of the Right of Self-Determination, by Robert McCorquodale and Kristin Hausler

Conflict in the Caucasus Implications for International Legal Order Edited by James A. Green and Christopher P.M. Waters (Palgrave Macmillan2010)

Chapter 2

Caucuses in the Caucasus: The Application of the Right of Self-Determination

Robert McCorquodale
Director of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law since January 2008. He is Professor of International Law and Human Rights, and former Head (Dean) of the School of Law, at the University of Nottingham.

Kristin Hausler
Research Fellow in Public International Law at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

This chapter will explore the extent to which there is a right of self-determination of the South Ossetian and Abkhaz people, and the application of that right under international law. In so doing, it will consider the actions by both the Georgian and Russian governments, and the extent to which they were consistent with this international law. This discussion will also raise issues about the requirements of a rule of law based international legal order.

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See also:

+ The International Legal Status of the Republic of Abkhazia In the Light of International Law, by Viacheslav Chirikba
+ The right of peoples to self-determination in the post soviet area: the case of Abkhazia, by Yugina Mishota
+ Charlotte Hille: From Abkhaz ASSR to a Democratic Republic