Z. Oklopcic, "Secession Reference and its intellectual legacy: skeptical notes from the European peripheries", in G. Martinico & G. Delledonne (eds), The Canadian Contribution to a Comparative Law of Secession (Palgrave 2019) (original) (raw)
Related papers
Il diritto alla secessione nel costituzionalismo moderno: un’analisi dei movimenti indipendentisti di Quebec, Scozia e Catalogna. Quando sentiamo parlare di ‘secessione’ la nostra mente quasi immediatamente va alla Guerra Civile Americana, oppure alle lotte per l’indipendenza di ex paesi coloniali. In altre parole, tendiamo a pensare alla secessione come ad un fenomeno del passato, di scarsa attualità. Niente di più falso. Negli ultimi trent’anni la secessione è entrata a far parte del dibattito politico e giuridico contemporaneo di numerosi stati democratici, ad esempio Canada, Spagna e Regno Unito. Originariamente giustificata come espressione ultima del diritto all’autodeterminazione dei popoli, di recente la secessione è stata invocata come corollario del principio di democrazia partecipativa, segnando anche un ritorno dei relativi strumenti di deliberazione diretta. Al di là delle motivazioni sottostanti e delle modalità con cui queste istanze vengano espresse, si tratta di un fenomeno a prima vista indesiderabile, in grado di danneggiare la stabilità politica interna ed internazionale. La secessione, infatti, mette in discussione le tradizionali fondamenta dello Stato, quali sovranità e integrità territoriale, ma al tempo stesso ha come obiettivo ultimo quello di creare un’entità che possegga le stesse caratteristiche. La palese impossibilità della dottrina tradizionale di spiegare e giustificare un fenomeno tanto contraddittorio, impone di procedere all’analisi empirica dei movimenti indipendentisti recenti e di tentare, per quanto possibile, di dare risposta agli interrogativi più impellenti, ovvero: esiste un diritto alla secessione? È compatibile con il concetto contemporaneo di costituzione? Ma soprattutto, che implicazioni potrebbe avere riconoscerlo? Alla luce della più recente dottrina, sempre più orientata verso una concezione democratica di secessione, mi sono ripromessa di fornire delle risposte convincenti alle suddette domande. Il mio lavoro sarà diviso in tre parti. La prima, Diritti a confronto e questioni terminologiche, sarà innanzitutto dedicata all’analisi delle teorie tradizionali riguardanti la secessione, nello specifico al suo rapporto con il controverso diritto all’autodeterminazione dei popoli, e con l’attuale regime di tutela delle minoranze. In seguito considererò il problema della secessione dal punto di vista del diritto internazionale, riportando quanto stabiliscono a riguardo i principali strumenti giuridici. Infine cercherò di stabilire, attraverso l’analisi comparata di diversi testi costituzionali, se vi sia spazio per la secessione nel costituzionalismo moderno. Nella seconda parte, Costituzionalizzare la secessione, sosterrò l’importanza di ‘normalizzare’ il fenomeno della secessione sottoponendolo alle regole del diritto e riportandolo dentro i limiti della dialettica costituzionale. A tal proposito presenterò l’innovativa tesi di Wayne Norman secondo la quale inserire il diritto alla secessione in costituzione potrebbe eventualmente servire a ‘domare’ i movimenti indipendentisti. Sebbene l’assunto di base sia affascinante, sono state opposte numerose obiezioni di ordine filosofico e giuridico, che tenterò di confutare per quanto possibile. Affronterò brevemente anche il complesso tema delle sub-minoranze. Nella terza ed ultima parte, L’analisi dei movimenti separatisti di Quebec, Scozia e Catalogna, confronterò le esperienze di Canada, Regno Unito e Spagna relative alla gestione delle rivendicazioni indipendentiste interne. Concluderò che a fronte di una maggiore legittimazione e regolamentazione —come nel caso di Quebec e Scozia— le aspirazioni nazionaliste dei diversi movimenti hanno finito per ridimensionarsi, e trovare espressione entro il pre-esistente contesto costituzionale. Al contrario, il persistente rifiuto delle istituzioni spagnole di riconoscere spazio alle istanze catalane, ha avuto, ad oggi, l’unico risultato di inasprire le pretese secessioniste.
This paper analyses the international community’s response in the recent cases of attempted secession and tries to answer the question whether international law has progressed to the level regulating the very process of secession. It will start by examining the provisions of the Reference re Secession of Quebec as it is the first document that has outlined the obligation to negotiate secession. In this landmark opinion, the Court has found that the obligation to negotiate stems from the enshrined constitutional principles, a view that has been accepted by the vast majority of scholars. Contrary to this position, the article will argue that, while negotiations are a very important step on a particular entity’s way towards secession, the obligation itself cannot be obtained from constitutional law. Instead, the obligation can be actually derived from the international law through, as this paper proposes, a novel theory of presumed or nascent statehood. Additional cases analyzed include the Kosovo Advisory Opinion and the view that the ICJ has taken on the final status negotiations and the Ahtisaari-led process. The case of Kosovo is further juxtaposed with other cases of attempted secession, mainly those of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Somaliland, Transnistria, South Soudan and Bougainville. All these case studies are used in order not only to argue the emerging obligation to negotiate secession, ie to undergo a form of a dispute settlement process with the host-state, but also to outline how the different conduct of the parties during this process can affect the international support for the succeeding entity.
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2016
This paper analyses the international community's response in the recent cases of attempted secession and tries to answer the question whether international law has progressed to the level regulating the very process of secession. It will start by examining the provisions of the Reference re Secession of Quebec as it is the first document that has outlined the obligation to negotiate secession. In this landmark opinion, the Court has found that the obligation to negotiate stems from the enshrined constitutional principles, a view that has been accepted by the vast majority of scholars. Contrary to this position, the article will argue that, while negotiations are a very important step on a particular entity's way towards secession, the obligation itself cannot be obtained from constitutional law. Instead, the obligation can be actually derived from the international law through, as this paper proposes, a novel theory of presumed or nascent statehood. Additional cases analyzed include the Kosovo Advisory Opinion and the view that the ICJ has taken on the final status negotiations and the Ahtisaari-led process. The case of Kosovo is further juxtaposed with other cases of attempted secession, mainly those of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Somaliland, Transnistria, South Soudan and Bougainville. All these case studies are used in order not only to argue the emerging obligation to negotiate secession, ie to undergo a form of a dispute settlement process with the host-state, but also to outline how the different conduct of the parties during this process can affect the international support for the succeeding entity.
Legalizing secession: the Catalan Case (coauthor Lluís Pérez)
In this article we review the main theories of secession from a normative point of view, relating them to the debate on the constitutionalization of secession and the Catalan case in particular. Our conclusion is that secession conflicts are complex because several issues related to justice and democracy are involved. For the Catalan case, we defend the idea of adopting a constitutional or (quasi-)constitutional approach as a peaceful and reasonable way to handle the secessionist debate. This would take into account what authors such as Norman or Sunstein have suggested in their analyses. Liberal democracies are able to consider secession as a way of solving territorial disputes, which need to be approached from a pragmatic and reasonable point of view.
Legalizing secession: the Catalan case
2013
In this article we review the main theories of secession from a normative point of view relating them to the debate on the constitutionalization of secession and the Catalan case. Our conclusion is that secession conflicts are complex from the normative point of view since several issues related to justice and democracy are involved in them. For the Catalan case we defend the idea of adopting a constitutional or (quasi)constitutional approach as a peaceful and reasonable way to handle the secessionist debate. This arrangement would take into account what authors like Norman or Sunstein have suggested in their analysis. Secession can be considered by liberal-democracies as a way of solving territorial disputes, which need to be approached from a pragmatic and reasonable point of view.
Publius: The Journal of Federalism, 2017
This article addresses the debate about the relative utility of accommodative federalism as a method of conflict management in multinational states. It challenges the 'substantivist' bias of existing literature by demonstrating that symbolic aspects of territorial reform (formal recognition of minority nationhood) may matter more than substantive ones (e.g. shifts in decision rights or resources) in accounting for the escalation of secessionist crises. The argument rests on a comparison between processes of territorial accommodation of Catalonia and Quebec. When autonomy for minority regions is broadened without symbolic recognition, majority elite response unfolds in the policy arena, mostly through attempts to symmetrize autonomy arrangements. However, when combined with formal symbolic recognition of minority nationhood, the extension of territorial autonomy paves the way for majority political backlash. Majority's open political opposition to the minority national project can, in turn, produce a strong secessionist counter-reaction.
Secession in liberal-democratic contexts: lessons from Catalonia
Research Handbook on Secession, 2022
This chapter aims to show that secession, especially if unilateral, is difficult in contexts of liberal democracy. Obstacles and difficulties to consensual secession are distinguished from those of unilateral secession, emphasising the harshness of the latter. In the case of consensual secession, different types of legal obstacles to secession are presented and classified. Regarding unilateral secession, problems such as polarisation, non-recognition, coercion, anarchy, and legal uncertainty are addressed. Three strategies for dealing with these issues are analysed: domestication, perseverance and drama. Although a combination of the three is expected in the world of facts, domestication and perseverance should prevail over drama in the normative realm of liberal democracy.
The “Europeanization” of Secessionist Programs: A Study of Montenegro and Catalonia
Australian and New Zealand Journal of European Studies, 2021
In 2006, the EU encouraged, facilitated and supervised the secession referendum of Montenegro. In 2014, the EU officials refused to facilitate a similar referendum in its member state Spain, and have so far denied any claims that Catalonia, when independent, would retain its membership of the EU. The paper argues that the EU policy towards secession referenda significantly affected the outcome of secessionist mobilization in these two cases.In spite of these sharp differences in the EU response, secessionist programs in both countries were ‘Europeanised’ in a similar way: in Montenegro, secession was aiming to facilitate the EU accession, and in Catalonia, to increase the benefits of retained EU membership. This paper explores the political and demographic context of the Europeanisation of secessionist programs.The majority of citizens in Catalonia and Montenegro do not identify as Catalan or Montenegrin only. The paper argues that the Europeanization of secessionist programs was, i...