r/Glasgow Tools

The short answer is that, while self-determination is recognised under international law, the only case where this definitely equates to a right to secede (i.e. opt out of a country) is in the case of colonial countries declaring independence from their coloniser.

In other contexts, the right to secede is directly opposed by the right of countries to 'territorial integrity', and so unless there is a specific case for why secession is required for a population to enjoy the way of life they desire, there is no fundamental legal right for them to do so.

So, while the UK govt gave the powers of a referendum to Scotland in 2014, there is no international law that required this - and similarly the government of Spain is under no requirement to recognise the right of Catalonia to secede. Only - in the general view of the UN - if the human rights of the people of Scotland/Catalonia were being oppressed by their membership of those countries would that change. Arguably, in both cases, the devolved powers that exist give both all the freedom they need to self-express while remaining part of the UK/Spain respectively.

Of course, there may be reasons why it might not be politically tenable for those governments to forbid succession...but there is no fundamental international law requiring them to allow it. Sturgeon could win 90% in a referendum tomorrow and it would, legally, mean nothing.

And as with anything UN it all depends on how other countries feel on the matter...see for example Kosovo, whose declaration of independence is only recognised by slightly over half of countries