International Law Prof. William Slomanson presents Lecture on Unilateral Declarations of Independence in the So. Caucasus

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Prof. William Slomanson of Thomas Jefferson School of Law (San Diego) presented an overview of the doctrine of remedial secession with special reference to Nagorno-Karabagh.   He was accompanied by his colleague, TJSL Prof. Chris Guzelian, who helped arrange the lecture at AUA, and his assistant Mike Pehlevanian, a 3^rd year student at TJSL.   The well-attended lecture outlined the history of unilateral declarations of independence, relying on the Canadian Supreme Court case on Quebec’s bid for secession from Canada,  the International Court of Justice ruling on Kosovo and the ECHR ruling on the Russian Federation and Georgia.  

A lively discussion ensued on how the three elements of this doctrine  apply to Nagorno-Karabagh, with the conclusion that a strong case can be made for remedial secession as an appropriate remedy in this case, on the grounds that (1) NK has a defined people, (2) who were subjected to gross violations of human rights by the state from which it has declared independence, for which (3) nothing less than secession would be a  sufficient remedy.    Prof. Slomanson is a highly regarded scholar of international law, whose Fundamental Perspectives on International Law is a classic textbook in the field.  

http://www.tjsl.edu/directory/william-slomanson 

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