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

Abstract This article examines the specific issue of the referendum as an instrument in the reordering 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 si...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGerman law journal Vol. 16; no. 3; pp. 523 - 541
Main Author Tierney, Stephen
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 01.07.2015
Subjects
Democracy
Independence
Pathology
Secession
Self-determination
Sovereignty
Ukraine
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Summary:Abstract This article examines the specific issue of the referendum as an instrument in the reordering 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 impediments and the black hole of international law in the path toward statehood.
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ISSN:2071-8322
2071-8322
DOI:10.1017/S2071832200020964