The PCIJ and International Rights of Groups and Individuals

The Permanent Court of International Justice was established in a period in which the position of the State as the natural form of political organization had come under pressure, among others, in academic-legal circles. It was also the period in which international-legal concern for groups within the State became institutionalized, notably through the efforts of the League of Nations. And while the League brought institutional and procedural novelties, the Permanent Court - without much doctrine or precedent to rely on - contributed on significant points to the development of international law regarding non-State groups and individuals. It is a matter of debate whether in the interbellum international ‘rights’ or only ‘benefits’ for these entities were at issue but the Permanent Court’s contribution to the legal emancipation of individuals and - especially - minorities is undisputed (think for instance of the notion of 'formal and substantive equality’, the element of 'self-identification' as it came to be called in the 1970s, and the ‘factual approach’ to the existence of minorities or other legally relevant groups). This paper traces the contours of that contribution in the international-legal context of the time and in some hallmark PCIJ decisions.