Pau Bossacoma, Morality and Legality of Secession:: A Theory of National Self-Determination

• Autores: Héctor López Bofill
• Localización: American journal of comparative law, ISSN 0002-919X, Nº. 4, 2021, págs. 880-884
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The theory of secession has not been elaborated much despite its intersection with crucial questions in political science, constitutional law, and international law. Although the process of decolonization after the Second World War generated a multiplication of new states, the silence on secession at the theoretical level persisted. It was only after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, amid the collapse of the Communist bloc, that some of the best studies on the issue published. Among political philosophers, the seminal book by Allen Buchanan on secession marked a turning point.1 Among law scholars, the volume by Antonio Cassese on self-determination of peoples set out another pillar for further research.2 Pau Bossacoma’s Morality and Legality of Secession is inspired by both of these sources, and this reveals the comprehensive character of his approach.3 His book encompasses political philosophy (Part I), international law (Part II), and constitutional law (Part III). It is one of the most in-depth studies on secession written since the two books by Buchanan and Cassese. Eventually, Bossacoma’s theory of self-determination may come to exert a significant influence on the ongoing discussion of secession.