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31 March 2024
The example of the Cook Islands
The example of the Cook Islands
A number of experts, such as Guy Agniel, professor of public law at the University of New Caledonia, who died in 2016, have proposed as a solution to the institutional problems facing the territory a scheme very clearly displayed as inspired by the example of the Cook Islands 1 which would be particularly suited to the Caledonian problem.
Located in the South West of the Pacific Ocean, the Cook Islands have formed a somewhat unusual state since 1965, being said to be associated (not federated) or in free association with New Zealand ; a status that some separatists, not only Caledonian but also Polynesian 2, would like to see applied to their territories and their relations with France.
The Cook Islands have enjoyed extensive autonomy from New Zealand since their constitution was drafted on August 4, 1965. They have complete responsibility for managing their internal affairs. Defense, currency, and foreign affairs (sovereign powers) are managed by New Zealand.
Although recognized by the United Nations (UN), the Cook Islands are not a member . They have been recognized within this institution since 1994 as a “non-member state” and therefore do not have a seat in the General Assembly.
This scheme coincides with that of the Federated State proposed by the APROFED association in its solution no. 1 with France which, let us remember, is with the associated State, the only 2 institutional solutions according to the former Keeper of the Seals Jean-Jacques Urvoas for New Caledonia 3 .
So why are the example of the Cook Islands and this principle of an associated state rejected by non-independence supporters?
The explanation comes partly from the content of the definition of associated State resulting from a bad translation and interpretation of the anglicism corresponding to it, namely for the Cook Islands: “ self-government in free association”.
For the French, the associated state corresponds to a sovereign and independent state that has signed a partnership agreement ( known as free association ) with a generally larger or more populated state with which it is associated. By this agreement, one of the two partners delegates to the other certain powers that normally fall under its sovereignty , most often defense and foreign affairs 4 , corresponding to the notion of “protectorate” or “protected state”.
However, self-government, in the Anglo-Saxon world, designates a political system in which a dependent territory (e.g.: Cook Islands) of a sovereign State (e.g.: New Zealand) has a great deal of autonomy to manage its internal affairs but is not independent.
Although the Cook Islands were declared independent in 1965 with the promulgation of their constitution, suggesting the emergence of a nation-state, they remain a territory attached to New Zealand.
UN Resolution 1541 of 1960, which mentions, among other things, the concept of “free association,” does not in any way stipulate that the non-self-governing territory wishing to choose this path must first and foremost be independent. The only obligation issued by the assembly is in its Principle VII that free association must result from a free and voluntary choice of the people of the territory in question, expressed according to democratic and widely disseminated methods . It further stipulates that the people of the territory who associate with an independent State must retain the freedom to modify the status of this territory and that the associated territory must have the right to determine its internal constitution, without external interference.
Thus, as Geneviève Koubi points out, the associated State is not synonymous with independence . Indeed, a country can manage certain sovereign powers of a State, without necessarily being independent 5 , hence Guy Agniel’s proposal to make New Caledonia: an Associated Overseas Country (POMA).
For Guy Agniel, the “POMA” aims to exercise numerous skills autonomously, while insisting on the uniqueness of international skills (e.g. diplomacy) , which should be reserved for the State.
The case of Algeria, another French settlement colony, may explain the rejection by non-independence supporters of the status of associated state.
Indeed, on July 5, 1962, Algeria’s independence was declared. In a referendum, 99.72% of the population voted in favor of independence. General De Gaulle reacted a few days later, announcing that the Algerian people had voted for the independence of Algeria, cooperating with France .
Through the Evian Accords, General de Gaulle actually wanted an independent Algeria to remain associated with France for a transitional period of several years. If the Algerians sign the Evian Accords, once independence is declared, they will definitively cut all ties with France , assuming their own destiny (sovereignty).
The fear of a repeat of the Algerian scenario in New Caledonia explains the fierce opposition of non-independence supporters to any notion of independence-association or associated state since the latter would aim at the creation of an independent state in New Caledonia, but what if this associated state remained non-sovereign like the Cook Islands?
It is appropriate here to briefly recall the history of the latter, which is quite similar to that of New Caledonia.
Annexed in 1900 by New Zealand, the situation in the Cook Islands, like that of New Caledonia, saw a marked improvement after the Second World War, when in 1946 its inhabitants were able to elect their own legislative council and participate more in the administration of their archipelago 7 . As a reminder, in 1890, the chiefs of Rarotonga (the largest island in the Cook Islands) had already created a General Council (central government) and the following year created the island’s first federal legislature . Thus, in 1893, 7 years before the annexation by New Zealand, the Federation of the Cook Islands was created with its own flag (see History of the Cook Islands — Wikipedia (wikipedia.org) ).
During the 1960s, the decolonization movement sweeping the world also reached Oceania, prompting the government to grant the Cook Islands associate state status ( -government status by establishing a new constitution. This special status allows themto obtain very broad political autonomy from New Zealand andthus to receive annual financial aidto run it. Theislanders are automatically New Zealand citizens. However, a special citizenship of the Cook Islands has been defined. Its inhabitants have preferential rights, particularly in terms of work, property, etc. This right is not granted reciprocally to New Zealand nationals, implicitly resolving the issue of migratory flows. Since 2001, the Cook Islands can also establish relations with the international community and thus manage the conduct of their foreign affairs . The currency is divided between the Cook Islands dollar and the New Zealand dollar. The Cook Islands thus benefit from the advantages of independence without the disadvantages of actually being so . And although this notion of independence has described the archipelago since 1965 or even 2001, the recognition of this by the United States in 2023 8 , against a backdrop of tensions with China, clearly shows that the archipelago is in reality in no way an independent state but rather still a non-sovereign state. This situation also led to an attempted coup d’état in 2008 by members of the House of Ariki (traditional chiefs) who attempted to dissolve the government to regain control of the country. Ten days later, the situation returned to normal and the leaders returned to their usual tasks, noting, as with the territory of Puerto Rico vis-à-vis the United States, that the status of associated state may not be ideal, just like the federated state, but that they nevertheless both present more advantages than remaining in the current status quo.
From there, it remains surprising that the non-independence Caledonians remain resistant to this notion of an associated State, a pure product of the history of the second half of the 20th century, which has its roots in the desire of the United Nations to create an intermediate, even alternative, path to decolonization . , to independence and /or integration into a pre-existing State 9 .
1 DAVID Carine, 2020. L’Océanie dans tous ses Etats. Mélanges à la mémoire de Guy Agniel. Revue juridique et politique et économique de Nouvelle-Calédonie (RJPENC), 314 p. (cf. Just a moment… (rjpenc.nc) )
2 CHAUCHAT Louise & Mathias, 2020, Le sens du “Oui”, Essai, 296p.
6 ImagesDéfense – Algerian Independence: A New Chapter Between Joy and Sadness (imagesdefense.gouv.fr)