The Crimean Vote of March 2014 as an Abuse of the Institution of the Territorial Referendum

Abstract

This contribution examines the international legal relevance of the recent Crimean referendum, starting from the premise that, as a matter of international customary law, and as a matter of legal consistency and fairness, a free territorial referendum is emerging as a procedural conditio sine qua non for any territorial re-apportionment. It concludes that the referendum was not free and fair, and could not form a basis for the alteration of Crimea’s territorial status.

Keywords: self-determination, remedial secession, annexation, democracy, nationalism, Venice Commission, Ukraine, non-recognition