Patrice Garant
Professor Emeritus of Public Law,
Université Laval, Québec
The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on Kosovo and the stability of federations
Commissioned from Patrice Garant, Professor Emeritus of Public Law at Laval University, this study examines the impact of the Court’s decision on international law, in particular the principles of self-determination and the integrity of States, as well as the question of Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI), comparing the contexts and specific constitutional frameworks of certain federal states.
The author examines the influence and potential consequences of the ICJ “advisory opinion” on the claims of various groups advocating secession, in particular in Quebec where the ruling has been interpreted by several protagonists of independence as universally applicable. In his examination of the issue, Professor Garant also draws a parallel with the Supreme Court of Canada’s “Reference re Secession of Quebec” (1998) which concluded that there would be a duty to negotiate with the protagonists of a proposed secession that has acquired a democratic legitimacy in having been approved by a clear majority responding to a clear question. Professor Garant concludes that Kosovo was obviously subjected to oppression by Milosevic’s Serbia and that it is fallacious to claim that a people that is not oppressed could adopt a Universal Declaration of Independence without encountering significant barriers.
