Catalonia: is the holding of a referendum to decide on the secession of a territory in accordance with international law? The effects of the recognition of states

AutorVíctor C. Pascual Planchuelo
Páginas219-232
CATALONIA: IS THE HOLDING OF A
REFERENDUM TO DECIDE ON THE SECESSION
OF A TERRITORY IN ACCORDANCE WITH
INTERNATIONAL LAW?. THE EFFECTS OF THE
RECOGNITION OF STATES.
CATALONIA: IS THE HOLDING OF A REFERENDUM TO DECIDE ON THE...
V C. P P
University Complutense of Madrid, Spain
1. SELF-DETERMINATION REFERENDA IN
CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL LAW
In recent years, the right to self-determination has been claimed
by secessionist movements that promote referenda to decide on their
independence, invoking democratic principles under the cover of
a presumed “right to decide”. These referenda, in some cases, are
generating complex legal and institutional situations in many states that
advocate their territorial integrity in the articulation of their Fundamental
Norm. In other instances, these nationalist demands have found a
favourable welcome when the state authorities accept holding pacted
referenda to decide on the separation of that territory in accordance
with their domestic laws. Likewise, in recent history we have seen self-
determination referenda that - even though they have been rejected by the
state authorities - have indeed resulted in the creation of new states within
the international scene when their ensuing declarations of independence
gained signif‌i cant international recognition. We will see below some
examples of these cases.
1.1.- Agreed or constitutionally provided self-determination. In
certain cases, the right to separation / secession is constitutionally
provided, or it has been reached in a negotiated manner. The referenda
held in Quebec in 1980 and 1995, in Montenegro in May 2006, and in

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