International Law

Secession: International Law Perspectives

By Marcelo G. Kohen
Cambridge University Press October 2012

Specifications

ISBN-13
9781107407824
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publication
October 2012
Format
Paperback , 548 pages
Jurisdiction
International ? Countri(es) for reference only

Details

The end of the Cold War brought about new secessionist aspirations and the strengthening and re-awakening of existing or dormant separatist claims everywhere. The creation of a new independent entity through the separation of part of the territory and population of an existing State raises serious difficulties as to the role of international law. This 2006 book offers a comprehensive study of secession from an international law perspective, focusing on practice and applicable rules of international law. It includes theoretical analyses and a scrutiny of practice throughout the world by eighteen distinguished authors from Western and Eastern Europe, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, North and Latin America, and Asia. Core questions are addressed from different perspectives, and in some cases with divergent views. The reader is also exposed to a far-reaching picture of State practice, including some cases which are rarely mentioned and often neglected in scholarly analysis of secession.

• Exhaustive analysis of a hotly debated topic in international law

• Examines the issues of self-determination versus State unity

• Devotes a section entirely to secessionist practice in each region of the world

Table of Contents

List of contributors page viii
    Preface x
    Table of cases xii
    Table of international instruments xviii
    List of abbreviations xxxi
 
    Introduction 1
    MARCELO G. KOHEN  
 
    PART I   The Foundations of International Law and Their Impact on Secession 21
1   Secession and self-determination 23
    CHRISTIAN TOMUSCHAT  
2   Secession, terrorism and the right of self-determination 46
    ANDREW CLAPHAM  
3   Secession and external intervention 65
    GEORG NOLTE  
4   The role of recognition in the law and practice of secession 94
    JOHN DUGARD AND DAVID RAIČ  
5   The State as a ‘primary fact’: some thoughts on the principle of effectiveness 138
    THÉODORE CHRISTAKIS*  
6   A normative ‘due process’ in the creation of States through secession 171
    ANTONELLO TANCREDI  
7   Secession and the law of State succession 208
    ANDREAS ZIMMERMANN  
8   Are there gaps in the international law of secession? 231
    OLIVIER CORTEN*  
 
    PART II   International and Domestic Practice 255
9   The question of secession in Africa 257
    FATSAH OUGUERGOUZ AND DJACOBA LIVA TEHINDRAZANARIVELO*  
10   International law and secession in the Asia and Pacific regions 297
    LI-ANN THIO  
11   Secession and international law: the European dimension 355
    PHOTINI PAZARTZIS  
12   Secession and international law: Latin American practice 374
    FRIDA ARMAS PFIRTER AND SILVINA GONZÁLEZ NAPOLITANO  
13   Lessons learned from the Quebec Secession Reference before the Supreme Court of Canada 416
    PATRICK DUMBERRY  
14   The Secession of the Canton of Jura in Switzerland 453
    CHRISTIAN DOMINICÉ*  
15   Conclusions 470
    GEORGES ABI-SAAB  
 
    Select bibliography 477
    Index 495

About the Author

Marcelo G. Kohen
Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva

Reviews

Review of the hardback: 'All in all, Marcelo Kohen, who has written also an informative introductory chapter to this book, is to be congratulated for this well-conceived, thought-provoking collection of essays. Future studies on the law of secession will find in this book an important reference point and a rich source of information.' Peter Hilpold, Austrian Review of International and European Law

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