Non-self-governing territories

Consult United Nations Division of Information from Non-Self-Governing Territories,... 

Committee on Information from Non-Self-Governing Territory. 

The classical right of colonial self-determination is now a core part of international law and enjoys a status that is legally superior to other international norms that do not enjoy this elevated position (jm cogens). However, it is applied only to colonial and non-self-governing territories of which practically none remain. This is the second disenfranchising aspect of the doctrine of self-determination it is established as an exception to the doctrine of territorial unity (above), but the exception is framed so narrowly that it does not apply to many or any situations of struggle for independence outside of the colonial context. 

See General Assembly Resolution 1542 Dec. 15, I960 see also C. Drew, The East Timor Story International Law on Trial, European Journal of International Law, 2001, Vol. 12, 651-656. Note that East Timor s status of a non-self-governing territory was reiterated in Resolution 3485 of Dec. 12, 1975. See M. Benzing, Midwifing a New State The United Nations in East Timor, Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, 2005, Vol. 9, 295—300. 

Even though it was regarded an important tool dining decolonization (both colonies, non-self-governing and trust territories), it was not applied consistently. See the account on plebiscites in Sureda (1973), pp. 294-306. 

Internal self-determination most often aims at the group, not the territory. It is therefore also called the non-territorial approach. Rights are accorded to a people, a nationality or even a minority who in turn usually are found in a geographically limited area. Internal self-determination looks at the relations between those governed and those governing. 

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