This volume is a collection of updated papers presented at the international conference Legal and Political Solution to Disputes over Sovereignty From Kosovo to Quebec, organized by the Law Faculty, University of Belgrade, 8-9 July 2005.

Disputes about sovereignty mainly arise in those cases where fundamental rights are infringed or democratic participation denied on account of the citizens membership in certain ethno-cultural minority groups. Moreover, the fact that serious challenges to sovereignty can be detected even in ethno-culturally diverse polities, which by all standards qualify as fairly just liberal-democracies, can only mean that the complex relationship between sovereignty and the diversity challenge is in need of serious consideration and analysis.

The book is divided into three Parts. In Part I, various normative theories of secession are evaluated both in relation to philosophy and to political science. Furthermore, the value and possible role of the uti possidetis principle is discussed. Part II goes on to address the value of various other methods to accommodate population diversity as means to solve disputes over sovereignty, namely multiculturalism, federalism and decentralization as well as minority rights. Finally, Part III groups together three case studies; the first two deal with the secession and partition theme, while the last one shows the potential of other, less controversial means to address tensions about sovereignty.

By observing sovereignty and diversity through the lens of a broader liberal-democratic doctrine, this book aims at setting out plausible strategies to cope with the problems evolving from these issues. It provides a welcome contribution to the discussion about sovereignty and diversity, and will be of interest to academics in a variety of disciplines such as law, history, politics, international relations, philosophy and applied ethics, and to politicians and constitution-drafters.

Target group

Academics

Author's information

edited by Miodrag Jovanović, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade and Kristin Henrard, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Erasmus University Rotterdam