Sovereignity, statehood and self-determination in international law - The Kosovo case

Abstract

The self-proclamation of Kosovo’s independence announced on February 17 invites us to some general considerations that may be linked to the specific event. The IL principle of Self-determination will be on the focus of this article to considering it as one of the way to archive the creation of new IL entity. Self-determination is a more recent principle then the others but its history, theory and practice is immense. The origin of the term and idea also is in discussion and debating among historian and lawyer. The term have been used simultaneously in the same period (end of WW I) by the US President Wilson and the USSR Premier Lenin referring to the right of the non self-governed territory like colony and occupied regions.