'Brexit and Scottish Independence from a Canadian Perspective' - Stephane Beaulac

Location: Freshfields Room, second floor, Faculty of Law

The speaker’s visit is timed to coincide with the Supreme Court hearing of the government’s appeal in the Article 50 litigation. There will be a light lunch in G11 afterwards.

The speaker will be Professor Stephane Beaulac (University of Montreal). Professor Beaulac is an alumnus of Darwin College (PhD) and is an expert on public international law and constitutional law. He has recently produced a monograph on the Scottish independence referendum. The title is: "Remedial Secession and the 1998 Quebec Secession Reference Case: Did the Supreme Court of Canada Get it Wrong?"

To set out the table, the (not so) hypothetical scenario is as follows: Imagine that, following Brexit, be it soft or hard, Scotland decides to go ahead and hold a second referendum on independence; this time, however, let’s say that London does not go along and, indeed, decides to oppose secession. What then? Unlike the autumn of 2014, rules of international law could come into play and, short of other options based on people’s right to self-determination, Scotland would perhaps rely on the idea of remedial secession. Beside the ICJ opinion in the Kosovo case, another precedent often invoked to support this doctrine is the Supreme Court of Canada decision in the 1998 Quebec Secession Reference case. It identified three situations where self-determination translates into a right to secession, the third one being associated with remedial secession. After recalling the context and the main points made by the Court, both in terms of domestic law and international law, the presentation will revisit the basis for this doctrine. Specifically, the claim that the 1970 UN Resolution 2625 (XXV) – Declaration on Friendly Relations and Co-operation among States – supports remedial secession will be challenged. In the end, with all due respect, the argument is that the Canadian high court got it wrong. To tie it up with Scotland, little help may come from international law if London is not agreeable for the proposed second referendum on independence.

Please contact Paul Daly (pd309@cam.ac.uk) for more information.