Self-Determination and Civil War

Abstract

The aim of this article is to contribute to the continuing debate on the relationship between state sovereignty and the right to self-determination of peoples. To that end, it critically examines the thesis of self-determination as 'sovereignty in abeyance', the thesis that self-determination is a doctrine which comes into play when, due to extraordinary circumstances, international law can no longer rely on state sovereignty as its fundamental point of reference. It argues that in the extraordinary situation of civil war, the relationship between state sovereignty and self-determination is more complex than the thesis suggests. In that particular situation, self-determination does not temporarily set aside state sovereignty. Rather, self-determination and state sovereignty are used as complementary arguments to underpin one of the fundamental principles of interstate relations: the principle of non-intervention.