On 15 December 2023 the Academic Forum organised by the New University, dedicated to Self-determination and Secession. Academic Forum took place on 15 December 202 at the occasion of the publication of the scientific monograph “Self-determination and Secession” (Springer, 2023) by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Natalija Shikova, IBU, Skopje. Professors Shikova, Jazbec and Letnar Černič discussed this important topic in international politics, law, and diplomacy. Here is the summary of Forum and book written by Mr Simone Colaiacomo, a Erasmus student at Nova univerza:
Natalija Shikova wrote this book to analyze two concepts that are very important in the analysis of international law today: “self-determination” and “secessionism”. These two topics, when analyzed, bring with them strong emotions because they talk about people who are sometimes not recognized as such, and this causes suffering and sometimes wars. The consequence is that being rational is very difficult, but it is essential because the law requires rationality.
The 1933 Montevideo Convention, in its first article, sets four basic standards relevant to the assumption of international legal personality, namely, the simultaneous presence of (A) a permanent population, (B) a defined territory, (C) an exclusive governing power, (D) the ability to maintain relations with other states. Two elements must be in place for a state to be recognized, the first is compliance with Article 1 of the Montevideo Convention while the second is acceptance, or rather recognition, by the international community. For what has been the evolution of the world balance, in addition to the four criteria experienced before, nowadays to make sure that you can be part of the international community, you need to be a democracy, respect human rights, respect minorities in the territory, and respect the rule of Law.
Within the book, a perspective is given on how these two terms can be understood. Self-determination provides that one cannot govern without consent and attribution by a law or constitution. When we talk about geopolitical issues that contain within them aspects of self-determination, we often fail to consider or are mistaken in identifying who has the power to make decisions and governance. Another important aspect to be taken into consideration concerns the capacity for influence that other states have on geopolitical issues like the role that states want to play when there are certain circumstances (stances taken, proposals for interlocution, etc.).
Self-determination is a principle that is established by the United Nations and is something concrete that serves to preserve a territory but also the sense of belonging of a particular group of people. Secession is a political phenomenon, which is therefore difficult to frame from a legal point of view. There is no right to secession, but the United Nations has never said it is prohibited. Venice Commission regards secession as a principle that violates constitutionalism. There is no consensus on the role secession plays in the legal world and its actual value.
Esohap 