Polisario's Legal Action as a Strategy to Reassert the Principle of Self-Determination in Western Sahara: Issues of Locus Standi, Justiciability and Jurisdiction of national and international Courts

The dispute between Morocco and the Polisario Front over Western Sahara has dragged on for decades, and diplomatic efforts and the (unfortunate) use of force have failed to resolve it. Morocco, which claims sovereignty over the territory, occupies part of Western Sahara. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguía el-Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario), which represents the people of Western Sahara, strongly supports the right of the Saharawi people to full self-determination. One of the Polisario Front's recent strategies has been to file lawsuits (directly or through other actors, such as NGO or private individuals) in national and international courts to affirm and defend the Saharawi people's right to self-determination. The purpose of this paper is to discuss this strategy with particular reference to the issues of admissibility and justiciability (legal standing, Act of State, State immunity) before the Courts. The main research question is whether this is a winning strategy and what Polisario can expect to achieve.