INTERNATIONALCOURTOFJUSTICE
ACCORDANCEWITHINTERNATIONALLAW OFTHEUNILATERAL
DECLARATIONOFINDEPENDENCEBYTHEPROVISIONAL
INSTITUTIONSOFSELF-GOVERNMENTOFKOSOVO
(REQUESTFORADVISORYOPINION}
RESPONSESUBMITTEDBY FINLAND
TO QUESTIONSOFJUDGEKOROMAANDJUDGECANÇADOTRINDADE
DECEMBER2009 On 11 December2009, JudgeKoromaandJl/dgeCançadoTrindadeputthe
followingquestionstotheparticipantsinthe oralproceedingsconcerningtherequest
foran advisoryopiniononthe questionofthe Accordancewith InternationalLawof
the UnilateralDeclarationof lndependencebythe ProvisionalInstitutionsof Self
Governmentof Kosovo:
JudgeKoroma:
"lt hasbeen·contendedthatinternationallawdoesnotprohibitthesecessionofa
territocyfro.ma sovereignState.Couldparjicipantsintheseproceedingsaddressthe
Courtontheprinciplesandrulesof internationallaw,if any,which,outsidethe
colonialcontext,permitthe secessionof aterritoryfroma sovereignStatewithoutthe
latter'sconsent?" ·
_JudgeCançadoTrindade:
"United . Nations SecurityCouncil resolution1244 (1999) refers,
in itsparagraph11 (a)to "substantlalautonomyandself-governmentin Kosovo",
takingfull accountofthe RambouilletAccords.lnyourunderstanding,whatisthe
meaningofthis renvoitothe RambouilletAccords?Doesit havea bearingonthe
issuesofself-determinationand/orsecession?Ifso,whatwouldbethe prerequisites
of a people'seligibilityintostatehood,intheframeworkofthe legalrégimeset upby
SecurityCouncilresolution1244 (1999)? And iNhatarethefactualpreconditionsfor
the configurationsof a 'people',andof itseligibilityintostatehood,undergeneral
internationallaw?"
Finlandrespectfullysubmitsthefollowingresponseto thesequestions:
1SELF-DETERMINATION INA NON-COLONIAL CONTEXT.(Judge Koroma)
As pointedoutinourwrittenstatementof 16April2009 andouroralstatementof8
December2009, the principlesof internationallawregardingself-determination,
includingtherightof secessionwerelaidoutalreadyinthe AalandIslandscasein
1920 and1921, thatisto say,wellbeforethedecolonizationperiod.
ln 1920, the Councilofthe Leagueof Nationssetupa CommitteeofJuriststogive
itsopiniononthedisputebetweenFinlandand_Sweden concernlngthestatusofthe
AlandIslands,situatedinthe BalticSeabetweenthetwocountries.After Finnish
independencein December1917, the Islandshadcontinuedto·belongto Finland.
Thepopulationofthe Islands,however,wasoverwhelminglySwedishspeakingand
wantedto becomepartofSweden.Thequestionoftheroleof therightofself
determinationofthe peopleofAland,inparticulartherightto secedefromFinland
andjoin Sweden,araseinthesettlementofthedispute.
TheCommitteeofJuristsaffirmedthattherightofself-determination was usuallya
politicalprinciplethatmaynotbe invokedagainstexistingStates.However,itthen
addedthatwherethe boundariesofStateshadbecomecontested,asinthecontext
of revolutionor majprwar,self:determinatioem~rgedasa legc:!c1riterionfor.future
settlement:
"Fromthe pointofviewof bothdorhesticandinternationalIaw,theformation,
transformationanddismembermeno t f Statesasa resultof revolutionsand
warscreatesituationsoffactwhich,to a largeextent,cannotbemetbythe
applicationofthenormalrulesof positivelaw.[...] Undersuchcircumstancest,heprinciple.ofself-determination of peoplesmay
becalledîntoplay.Newaspirationsof certainsectionsof a nation,whichare
sometimesbasedonoldtraditionsorona commonlanguageandcivilisation,
maycorneto thesurfaceandproduceeffectswhichmustbetakeninto
accountinthe interestsoftheinternaiandexternalpeaceof nations." 1
Thusin 1920, the CommitteeofJuristsaffirmedthe/egalrelevanceofself
determinationasa criterionofterritorialsettlementinsituationswherelegalnormality
hadbeendisturbed by "revolutionsorwars". lnthefollowingyear,theCo.uncil
establisheda CommissionofRapporteurs (192t) to giveeffeéttothe_legap l rincip!es
laidoutbytheCommitteeofJurists.Accordingtpthe Commission,self-determination
mayberealizedthoughsecessionwhentheprospectsof itscredibleinternai
realizationarenolongerpresent:
"Theseparationofa minorityfromtheStateofwhichitformsapartandits
incorporationin anotherStatecanonly beconsideredasanaltogether
exceptionalsolution,a lastresortwhentheState/ackseitherthewillor the
powerto enactandapplyjust andeffectiveguarantees" .
Theprinciplethatin certainexceptionas l ituationsself-determinatiomayberealized
throughsecessionhasthusbeena partofinternationallawthroughout thé20 th
century.Thepracticeof realizationofself-deterrrtinatiothroughindependence
duringthedecolonizationperioddidnetemergeasexceptiontotheexistinglaw.lt
araseasan applicationoftheprinciplesetoutin'theAalandIslandscase.Themost
recentauthoritativepronouncemeno t fthisprincipleisthatbythe SupremeCourtof
Canadain Re: Secessionof Quebec(1998)wherethe Courtsummarizedits
argumentthatexternalself-determination (i.e..secession)wasapplicableinthree
situations,asfollows: · ·
"lnsummary,the internationallawrightto self-determination onlygenerates,
atbest, a rightto externalself-determinationinsituationsofformercolonies;
wherea peopleisoppressed,asforexamp/eunderforeignmilitary
occupation;orwhereadefinablegroupisdeniedmeaningfulaccessto
governmentto pursuetheirpolitical,economic,socialandcultural
development.ln ailthreesituations,thepeopleinquestionareentitledtaa
rightto externalse/f-determinatiobecausetheyhavebeendèniedtheability
3
toexertinternallytheirrighttoself-deterniination."
ln otherwords,thereis arightofsecessionina non-colonialsituation"wherea
definablegroupisdeniedmeaningfulaccesstogovernmentto pursuetheirpolitical,
economic,socialandculturaldevelopmenf'.
Il FACTUALPRECONDITIONS FOR"PEOPLE"(JudgeCançadoTrindade)
ThesecondquestionbyJudgeCançadoTrindadecontainstwoparts.Finlandwould
respectfullywishto giveitsansweronlytothelatterpart,namelyto thequestion
"whatar:ethefa_ctuap lreconditionsfor theconfigurationsof a 'people',.andofits
eligibilityintostatehood,undergene_ra il ternationallaw?"
1ReportoftheInternationalCommittee(sic)ofJuristsentruiitedbytheCounciloftheLeagueof Nations
withthetaskofgivinganadvisoryopinionuponthelegalaspectsoftheAalandIslandsquestion,
Leagueof NationsO.J.Spec.Suppl.No.3(October1920),at6.
2Reportsubmittedtothe CounciloftheLeagueof Nationsbythe Commissionof Rappor, eague
ofNati6ns Doc.8.7.21/68/106(1921),at28. ·
3ReferenceReSecessionofQuebec,[1998]2 S.C.R.217,para138. As statedintheFinnishwrittenandoralstatement~t,heemergenceof Statesis a
factthat isnotregulatedbyanydetailedrulesof internationallaw.Thereareno
treatiesandnocustomarylawonstate-formation beyondthe criteriaofthe
MontevideoConventionandthegeneralprinciplesofterritorialintegrityandself
determination.Also,thereis nocriterionforwhatamountsto a"people".Criteriathat
havebeendiscussedinthisrespectincli.Jdeethnie;religious,linguistic,territorialand
historicalprinciplesof identification.ln practice,suchcriteria'usuallyoverlapand
conflictandfew(ifany)statesarehomogenous by!anysuchmeasure.Moreover,to
assumethatStatesoughtto behomogeneousby r,eferento suchcriteriawould.be
morallyandpoliticallyunacceptable;itwouldleadto adefactoendorsementof
policiesof ethnie(orreligious,linguisticor political)cleansingasawayto statehood.
InternationallegalinstrumentssuchastheFriendlyRelationsDeclaration(UNGA
Res2625(XXV))qrthe_ HelsinkiFinalActthatreferto "people"dothisprincipallyin
orderto single.outthewholepopulationofa Statas thebeneficiaryof (internaior
external)self-détermination.Thisis sometimesthesameasthe"nation"althoughit
doesnotnecessarilyhaveto beso.
Whenself-determinationis saidto applytosub-groupswithinstates,however,thisis
doneusuallywithoutreferenceta specificcriteria.:Thisisnatural.Forgroupswith
specificidentitywithinStatesmayconstitutethemselvesbyreferenceto many
different(subjective)principlesof identification:lereligious,linguistic,
historicalorterritorial.lnfact,thereis nolimitto suchconsidetliey aresimply
sociologicaloranthropological'cts.Nordoesinternationallawputanylimitto such
self-identification(ofcobeyondrespectforhumanrightsandnon-violence).The
onlyexceptionhasto dowithsituationswhereagroupisclaiminga specificright
basedpreciselyonthewayit identifiesitself.Thebasicsituationisthatof
"indigenouspeople"wheretheidentificationofagroup.s an"indigenouspeople".
laysthe basisfor a clato aspecificstatusor entitlementthatlaw(forinstancethe
5
2007_UNDeclarationontheRightsof lndigenousPeoples)creates.
ln otherwords,the"factualpreconditionsorconfiguratiofa 'people"'arenot
determinedbyinternationallaw.Thereareno legallimitstothecriteriabywhicha
groupmayidentifyitselfasa"people".Whetheror notsuchidentificationexistsis
merelyamatteroffact.Thepresenceofthatfact(i.e.theself-identificatof agroup
asa "people")maycontributeta andstrengthenthedesireofa groupto establish
itselfasa State- includingtodoingthisbysecession.Butatwhatpointthisfact(the
factof secession)shouldberecognizedbyth~la}'V(i.e.atwhatpointagrouphas
succeededinestablishingitselfasa State)is a;iatterofassessmentinwhichonly
the Montevideocriteriaandthegeneralprinciplesofterritorialintegrityandself
determinationapply.
~.,n)·. o
Helsinki,21December2009
"~iK~ta
DirectorGeneralfor LegalAffairs.
4TherelevantlanguageoftheFriendlyRelationsDereads:~Byvirtueoftheprincipleofequé;ll
rightsandself-detenniofpeoplesenshrinedintheCharteroftheUnitedNations,all peopleshave
therightfreelyto-dete, ithoutextemalioterftheirpoliticalstatopursuetheir
economic,socialandculturaldevelo,ndeveryStatehasthedutyto respectthisrightin
"Byvirtueoftheprincipleofequalrightsandself-deofpeoples,ailpeoplesalwayshavethealActreads:
right,infullfreedom,todet, henandastheywish,theirinternaiandextemalpoliticalstatus,
withoutextemalinterfe, ndtopursueastheywishtheirpolitlcal,economic,socialandcultural
developmen•t.
5SeeUNGARes61/295(13Septembe2r007)_
Reply of Finland to questions posed by Judges Koroma and Cançado Trindade
at the close of the oral proceedings