ABSTRACT
This chapter considers a number of practice issues that would have to be considered in adjudicating a claim for an order or declaration recognizing that a group has a legal right to secede. It comments on the legal meaning of the term 'oppression', which has been used to regulate the relationship between minorities and majorities in the corporate law. Perhaps the most significant development in the corporate law is that the concept of oppression has developed in a manner that consciously includes the concept of discrimination. At the preliminary inquiry, a court would have to determine whether there is a prima facie case of oppression. This requires proof of the substantive ground of secession: the applicant must provide evidence that the state has oppressed the minority that is seeking secession. The burden on this issue is the major burden in the case and logically falls on the minority seeking secession, which has an obligation to prove that secession is warranted.
