Collective cultural claims before the international court of justice

Abstract

In the aftermath of the Second World War, when the system of the United Nations was created, granting rights to collectivities was not a United Nations priority. Collective rights, and, a fortiori, the right of groups ‘to protect and develop their own particular cultural characteristics’ were, at that time, seen as a peril to the establishment of the international human rights system. ‘Groups’ meant division, discord, conflict, and disparity.