Editing Secession (section)

==Rights to secession==
{{See also|Self-determination}}
{{anchor|Right to secession}}
Most [[sovereign state]]s do not recognize the right to self-determination through secession in their constitutions. Many expressly forbid it. However, there are several existing models of self-determination through greater autonomy and through secession.<ref name="Kreptul">Andrei Kreptul, [https://mises.org/journals/jls/17_4/17_4_3.pdf The Constitutional Right of Secession in Political Theory and History], [[Journal of Libertarian Studies]], [[Ludwig von Mises Institute]], Volume 17, no.{{spaces}}4 (Fall 2003), pp. 39–100.</ref>

In liberal constitutional democracies the principle of [[majority rule]] has dictated whether a minority can secede. In the United States [[Abraham Lincoln]] acknowledged that secession might be possible through [[List of amendments to the United States Constitution|amending]] the [[United States Constitution]]. The [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in ''[[Texas v. White]]'' held secession could occur "through revolution, or through consent of the States".<ref name="books.google.com">Aleksandar Pavković, Peter Radan, [https://books.google.com/books?id=-IjHbPvp1W0C Creating New States: Theory and Practice of Secession], p. 222, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2007.</ref><ref name="Texas v. White">[https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0074_0700_ZO.html ''Texas v. White''], 74 U.S. 700 (1868) at [[Cornell University Law School]] Supreme Court collection.</ref> The [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|British Parliament]] in 1933 held that [[Secessionism in Western Australia|Western Australia could secede]] from the [[Australia|Commonwealth of Australia]] only upon vote of a majority of the country as a whole; the previous two-thirds majority vote for secession via [[1933 Western Australian secession referendum|referendum]] in [[Western Australia]] was insufficient.<ref name="Pavkovic">{{cite journal|url=http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/MqLJ/2003/1.html|last1=Pavkovic|first1=Aleksandar|last2=Radan|first2=Peter|title=In Pursuit of Sovereignty and Self-determination: Peoples, States and Secession in the International Order|journal=Macquarie Law Journal|year=2003|volume=3|page=1}}</ref>

The [[Communist Party of China|Chinese Communist Party]] followed the Soviet Union in including the right of secession in its 1931 constitution in order to entice [[Ethnic minorities in China|ethnic nationalities]] and [[Tibet]] into joining. However, the Party eliminated the right to secession in later years, and had anti-secession clause written into the [[Constitution of the People's Republic of China|Constitution]] before and after the founding the [[China|People's Republic of China]]. The 1947 Constitution of the [[Burma|Union of Burma]] contained an express state right to secede from the union under a number of procedural conditions. It was eliminated in the 1974 constitution of the [[Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma]] (officially the "[[Union of Myanmar]]"). Burma still allows "local autonomy under central leadership".<ref name="Kreptul" />

As of 1996, the [[Constitution of Austria|constitutions of Austria]], [[1995 Constitution of Ethiopia|Ethiopia]], [[Constitution of France|France]], and [[Constitution of Saint Kitts and Nevis|Saint Kitts and Nevis]] have express or implied rights to secession. Switzerland allows for the secession from current and the creation of new [[Cantons of Switzerland|cantons]]. In the case of proposed [[Quebec sovereignty movement|Quebec separation]] from [[Canada]], the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] in 1998 ruled that only both a clear majority of the province and a constitutional amendment confirmed by all participants in the Canadian federation could allow secession.<ref name="Kreptul" />

The [[European Union]] is not a sovereign state but an association of sovereign states formed by treaty; as such, leaving it, which is possible by simply denouncing the treaty, is not secession. Nonetheless, the 2003 draft of the [[Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe|European Union Constitution]] allowed for the [[Withdrawal from the European Union|voluntary withdrawal of member states from the union]], although the representatives of the [[Member state of the European Union|member-state]] which wanted to leave could not participate in the withdrawal discussions of the European Council or of the Council of Ministers.<ref name="Kreptul" /> There was much discussion about such self-determination by minorities<ref>Xenophon Contiades, [http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/AUD/s6.htm Sixth Scholarly Panel: Cultural Identity in the New Europe], 1st Global Conference on Federalism and the Union of European Democracies, March 2004. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090105214649/http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/AUD/s6.htm |date=January 5, 2009 }}</ref> before the final document underwent the unsuccessful ratification process in 2005. In 2007 the [[Treaty on European Union]] included [[Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union]], establishing a mechanism for withdrawal from the EU.

As a result of the successful [[2003 Liechtenstein constitutional referendum|constitutional referendum]] held in 2003, every municipality in the [[Liechtenstein|Principality of Liechtenstein]] has the right to secede from the Principality by a vote of a majority of the citizens residing in that municipality.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fuerstenhaus.li/en/monarchy/the-reform-of-the-constitution-in-2003/|title=The Reform of the Constitution in 2003|website=fuerstenhaus.li|access-date=2017-01-02|archive-date=2017-01-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170102172008/https://www.fuerstenhaus.li/en/monarchy/the-reform-of-the-constitution-in-2003/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[Indigenous peoples]] have a range of different forms of [[indigenous sovereignty]] and have the right of [[self-determination]], but under current understanding of international law they have a mere "remedial" right to secession in extreme cases of abuse of their rights, because [[independence]] and [[sovereign state]]hood is a territorial and diplomatic claim and not one of self-determination and [[self-government]], respectively, generally leaving rights to secession to the internal legislation of sovereign states.