British Court Issues Legal Opinion Recognizing the “Kabyle People” and Their Right to Self-Determination
The President of the Kabyle Government in Exile, Ferhat Mehenni, announced in a speech broadcast from Paris last Thursday that the British “Brick Court” in London has issued a legal opinion recognizing the existence of the Kabyle people as a distinct people and affirming their right to self-determination, potentially opening the door to “independence” from Algeria.
COMMUNIQUÉ DU PREMIER MINISTRE DU GOUVERNEMENT KABYLE EN EXIL
AVIS JURIDIQUE EN FAVEUR DU DROIT À L'AUTODÉTERMINATION DU PEUPLE KABYLE
Hier, jeudi 5 septembre 2024, est un tournant décisif pour la Kabylie. Comme l'a annoncé le Président Ferhat Mehenni, c'est avec beaucoup… pic.twitter.com/WiYzFyEtJE
— bellabbaci Aksel (@ABellabbaci) September 6, 2024
According to the court’s opinion, as reported by Aksel Belabbasi, a leader of the “Movement for the Self-Determination of Kabylia” (MAK) and a former prisoner of the Algerian authorities, the British judiciary received a request for consultation from the movement on “whether the Kabyle people have the right to self-determination.”
#عاجل : أصدرت محكمة بريك كورت في لندن رأيًا قانونيًا يعترف بوجود القبائل كشعب وبحقهم في تقرير المصير يوم 4 سبتمبر 2024.
الإعلان بهذا الخبر قد قامت به الحكومة القباٸلية في المنفی وعلی رأسها السيد الرٸيس فرحات مهني في خطاب ألقاه يوم 5 سبتمبر 2024، بعدما تحصل علی الوثيقة الرسمية… pic.twitter.com/iIvOY8K13J
— bellabbaci Aksel (@ABellabbaci) September 6, 2024
The court’s opinion states that two key questions must be addressed to determine whether the Kabyle people have the right to self-determination. The first question is whether the Kabyles constitute a people, as the right to self-determination is granted exclusively to peoples. The opinion concludes, “In our view, they do constitute a people.”
ملف جمهورية القبايل الشقيقة أمام لجنة تصفية الإستعمار بالأمم المتحدة، مسألة وقت فقط.
🔴الاعتراف التاريخي بحق شعب القبائل في تقرير مصيره.
لندن، 4 سبتمبر 2024 ⎯ في قرار تاريخي، كبار المحامين عن مكتب
Brick Court Chambers
نشر رأيًا قانونيًا يؤكد فيه أن سكان منطقة القبائل الذين… pic.twitter.com/7uqsKuHNqQ— هشام السنوسي (@Pirana_dusahara) September 5, 2024
The second question, according to the same document, is whether they have the right to self-determination under international law. The court concludes that “in our view, they do have this right,” emphasizing that “the right to self-determination in international law is a human right held by peoples, as clarified in numerous international instruments, most notably the United Nations Charter.”
The opinion relies on Article 1 of the 1966 International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which state that all peoples have the right to self-determination.
The document notes that there are no specific criteria defining what constitutes a “people” under international law. However, several considerations provide useful guidance. One widely accepted principle is that “a people may include a portion of the population of an existing state,” as stated by the Canadian Supreme Court in reference to the Quebec independence movement.
The Kabyle people are the largest Berber community in Algeria, with linguistic unity, speaking a specific Berber dialect. Therefore, the British court concludes that the Kabyle people are a people under international law and, as such, have the human right to self-determination.
