Sovereignty and Crimea: How Referendum Democracy Complicates Constituent Power in Multinational Societies

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Abstract / Description of output

This article examines the specific issue of the referendum as an instrument in the re-ordering of territory, specifically in the context of the secession of Crimea from Ukraine.The article maps how in recent decades independence referendums have proliferated and considers how the Crimean situation exposes the deep pathology of uncertainty in international law and its understanding of self-determination, exposing the referendum as a dangerous outlier. The principle of democracy, present already in the context of Kosovo's unilateral independence, and which forced the hand of Canada and the UK to accommodate secessionist aspirations, is a growing feature of international legal discourse, and one which suggests that the referendum is likely to remain a potential trump card to which nationalists will appeal to overcome both constitutional impediment sand the black hole of international law in the path toward statehood.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)523-541
JournalGerman Law Journal
Volume16
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 2015

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