ABSTRACT
One of the secessionist processes has been initiated, so far without success, by a part of Catalan society, some of the regional political parties and the Government and Parliament of the Autonomous Community. The internal tensions and the international insecurity caused by secessionism require a study from an international law perspective to complement those based on an analysis of domestic legal systems. The secession of Panama in 1903 and that of Ireland in 1922 were as traumatic for Colombia and the United Kingdom and as far-reaching in their regional and international impact as those successfully completed in 1991 in the Soviet context; as were the attempted secessions, thwarted by the respective States involved, of Chechnya and Anjouan. The social importance of the legal questions has increased in recent years as a result of various independence movements, secession attempts and even self-determination referendums outside the colonial context. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
