ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the historical problem of secession. The problem lies in the concept of sovereignty, which provides the major obstacle to any theory that requires the transfer of the title to the sovereign power. There is an extensive literature that vests the 'sovereignty' of the state in its claim to the legal jurisdiction over a particular territory. It might seem that territory is the decisive issue in secession, since a legal decision on the issue will have to address the state's claim to territory. It is the state's jurisdiction over persons that matters, however, and the territorial question merely reflects the fact that the legal jurisdiction of a state is usually measured by the land under its control. The historical development of the political notion of sovereignty may have reached its apogee in the work of Carl Schmitt, who believed that there are aspects of government beyond the reach of any constitution.
