Crimea’s declaration of independence and the subsequent annexation by Russia under international law

Abstract

In the spring of 2014, the world was kept on its toes with the daily news coming from Ukraine. Russia played an important role in this affair, keeping up threats of invasion of Crimea and abundant military action. In the end, Crimea held a referendum regarding its independence and subsequently was annexed into the Russian Federation. Putin’s “new vassal” was on everybody’s minds. In regards to international law, however, the process of declaring independence and annexation is much more complex. Peoples are guaranteed the right to self-determination under the Charter of the United Nations on the one hand, but on the other, the Charter also protects states’ territorial integrity. With the incident in Crimea, these two fundamental principles of international law experienced a major clash. In this article, after briefly introducing the facts of the Crimea Crisis, the author will examine both the state’s right to territorial integrity and the peoples’ rights to self-determination in the specific case and circumstances of Crimea. In doing so, the author takes into account the Quebec test and also the potential formation of regional customary law in the area of the former Soviet Union. Finally, this article strives to answer the question of the illegality of the annexation of Crimea by Russia.