Independence Referendum, State Sovereignty and International Law: International Legal Review of Independence Referendum from the Perspective of Theoretical Foundation and Global Practice

Abstract

Independence referendum, as an important practical means for the principle of national self-determination, contains sufficient legitimacy and theoretical origin in domestic law or international law from the perspective of three aspects including theory of state and domestic law, national sovereignty and international law, as well as the practical effects and the needs of the times. With inspection to the independence referendum practices across the globe on the dimension of international law, 87 independence referendums held in 62 countries or regions show many characteristics in four aspects including the time, legal grounds, results, diplomatic recognition of the international community and the countries or regions of the referendums. Through the international legal theoretical review of independence referendum mechanism, we can draw the following conclusions: the international law premise of independence referendum should be the consent of the original sovereignty owner or its illegal deterrent; The subject of the independence referendum under the principle of national self-determination should not be limited to “peoples”; The applicable objects of independence referendum should not include disputed territories; The international community should promote the internationalization of independence referendum from the international law into domestic law as a civil right.