국제법상 인민자결권의 현대적 경향에 대한 소고

It is generally accepted that self-determination will be effectuated through the formation of an independent statehod in its external aspect. However, as son as a self-determining regime attains independent statehood, internal self-determination primarily operates as a governing and organising principle of the State. A people within a State, as holders of the right to self-determination under international law should have the right to choose their form of government, and their economic, social, and cultural systems, based on their entitlement to democratic representative government.International law generaly does not recognise, outside of colonial contexts, an afirmative right on the part of people to exercise their self-determination right by seceding from the existing State. As the right to self-determination has evolved from the context of decolonisation to its internal aspect since the post-colonial and the Cold War eras, it is observed that the right to internal self-determination is applicable to the protection of persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic groups with respect to their political participation in their State of residence. Democracy has a direct relationship with the right to internal self-determination. The ‘consent of the governed’ and ‘true representative’ quality of the government are necessary components to guarantee the right to internal self-determination. This means that internal self-determination guarantees the political participation of persons belonging to ethnic, religious or linguistic minority groups in their State of residence without discrimination. Given that internal self-determination requires true representative government without distinction of race, creed or colour, it may be argued that when a State precludes effective participation of members of ethnic or linguistic minority groups, it denies its people their right to internal self-determination.