Topic

Do non-State actors have human rights obligations in the same manner as States?

Author/Academic

Andrew Clapham

Viewpoint

It is strongly debated whether non-State actors, such as terrorists and multinational corporations, have human rights obligations. Human rights obligations are owed to individuals only by States. The fear is that if such obligations are extended to non-State actors then States will be slack in their duty to prevent and punish violations and will blame non-State actors for many abuses which they should have prevented. The most accepted viewpoint is that such obligations continue to be addressed only to States and that non-State actors play a complementary role.

Source

Human Rights Obligations of Non-State Actors (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)

Topic

Was the Catalonian independence referendum lawful?

Author/Academic

Anne Peters

Viewpoint

Does the autonomous province of Catalonia in Spain have a unilateral right to secede from Spain, in violation of the Spanish Constitution and without its people having been oppressed by the central government? Scholars and politicians are divided on this issue, but the majority (as well as prevailing State practice) seems to suggest constitutional processes in a democratic country are central to internal self-determination questions.

Source

‘Populist International Law? The Suspended Independence and the Normative Value of the Referendum on Catalonia’ EJILTalk! (2017), available at: https://www.ejiltalk.org/populist-international-law-the-suspended-independence-and-the-normative-value-of-the-referendum-on-catalonia/