THE RIGHT OF PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION TO SECESSION: CONSTITUTIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ASPECTS

The subject matter of the essay—the phenomenon of secession of a part of state territory—is analysed from two aspects: the constitutional and the international one. We tried to explain the legal nature, normative solutions and consequences of secession, and to prove three hypotheses. The first hypothesis is that initiating the procedure for secession depends on certain factors such as ethnic conflicts, religion, and the distribution of political power in the world. The second hypothesis is that the success of secession depends on the constellation of the political and military power in a state. The third hypothesis is that international law still recognises the final status, although sometimes secession violates the constitutional norms of the predecessor state. In legal theory, secession is one form of exercising the right to self-determination. There is no rule in international law that allows for or prohibits secession. International law lacks precise standards on how to exercise the right to self-determination. From 1918 on there have been decisions that invoke the right of peoples to selfdetermination, but no legal norms in international law prescribe in what cases and how this right can be exercised. In this essay, we also talked about the dilemma of whether secession of certain territories is a precedent or whether that particular secession can create a custom