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Introduction

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Minorities, Minority Rights and Internal Self-Determination

Abstract

Minorities and self-determination are two areas that each has triggered numerous discussions. The United Nations (UN) estimates that 10–20 % or 600 million to 1.2 billion of the world population belong to minorities. With such an amount of members of minorities, there are few states that do not encompass any minorities. Minorities and their rights are global issues.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    United Nations (2014) Minority Estimation. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/minorities/guide.htm. Accessed 06 May 2014. The UN does not provide information on the definition used to determine these numbers.

  2. 2.

    See Seidl-Hohenveldern (1997), recital 1557.

  3. 3.

    United Nations (2014) Minority Main Page. http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/minorities/index.htm. Accessed 06 May 2014.

  4. 4.

    Castellino and Gilbert (2003), p. 165.

  5. 5.

    Higgins (1994), p. 100.

  6. 6.

    Simma (1999), esp. pp. 12 and 22.

  7. 7.

    See Foighel (1997), pp. 3–4.

  8. 8.

    Slaughter (1995), p. 515.

  9. 9.

    Packer (1993), p. 23.

  10. 10.

    See Kahler (2000), p. 671. See also Checkel (2005), pp. 801–802.

  11. 11.

    Koskenniemi (1994) and Summers (2005).

  12. 12.

    Valentine (2004), p. 453.

  13. 13.

    See for example Weller (2005). Weller gives the impression he speaks of self-determination as such. His article, however, is overwhelmingly concerned only with the external aspect. See also Tramboo (2001), p. 214; Kolodner (1994), pp. 159–160; Higgins (1994), pp. 118–119.

  14. 14.

    Discussions on a general right to secession and its link to common art. 1 of the ICCPR and ICESCR exist plenty. See Franck (1995), pp. 154–162.

  15. 15.

    See Sect. 4.2 for more on soft law and non-binding instruments.

  16. 16.

    For an introduction to the matter and references for further reading see Kritsiotis (2002). For an introduction to the matter and references for further reading. Koskenniemi (2004), p. 199.

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  1. Department of Law, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Ulrike Barten

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  1. Ulrike Barten
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Barten, U. (2015). Introduction. In: Minorities, Minority Rights and Internal Self-Determination. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08876-1_1

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