The Case of Crimea: Self-Determination and Exercise of the Right to Secession or Annexation?
The Case of Crimea: Self-Determination and Exercise of the Right to Secession or Annexation?

Author(s): Oleksandr Zadorozhnii
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, International Law
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Scholar Sp. z o.o.
Keywords: self-determination; Crimea; Ukraine; Russian Federation
Summary/Abstract: The author engages in comprehensive international law-based analysis of the Crimean case and tries to develop a holistic vision. He considers principal issues of the problem to answer a question as to whether events of 2014 represented self-determination and exercise of the right to secession by the Crimean people, or merely Russian annexation of the Peninsula as an integral part of Ukraine.Special emphasis is placed here on the fundamental principles of international law, their modern interpretation, and the rules set out in international agreements between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The author seeks to determine whether there are legal grounds for the self-determination of the Crimean people (peoples): is it possible to claim exhaustion of possibilities for “internal self-determination” of the Peninsula within the Ukrainian state? Are there exceptional circumstances regarding the legality of secession, and how does the Russian Federation’s involvement in the events of 2014 affect their legality? Some attention is also drawn to the Kosovo case and other cases in which self-determination by means of secession appears to have gained recognition in the international community, and a conclusion is drawn in respect of whether these examples are applicable to the Crimean case.

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