Unilateral declaration of independence

Examples

Prominent examples of a unilateral declaration of independence other than Rhodesia's UDI in 1965 include that of the United States in 1776, the Irish Declaration of Independence of 1919 by a revolutionary parliament, Katanga's declaration of independence by Moise Tshombe in July 1960, the attempted secession of Biafra from Nigeria in 1967, the Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence from Pakistan in 1970, the secession of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus from Cyprus in 1983, the Palestinian Declaration of Independence from the Palestinian territories in 1988, and that of the Republic of Kosovo in 2008. During the Dissolution of the Soviet Union throughout 1991, many of its republics declared their independence unilaterally without agreement and were thus not recognised as legitimate by the Soviet Central Government.

During the breakup of Yugoslavia, the government of the United States asked the governments of Croatia and Slovenia to drop their UDI plans because of the threat of major war erupting in the Balkans because of it, and threatened that it would oppose both countries' UDIs on the basis of the Helsinki Final Act if they did so. However, four days later both Slovenia and Croatia announced their UDIs from Yugoslavia.

Legal aspects

The International Court of Justice, in a 2010 advisory opinion, declared that unilateral declarations of independence were not illegal under international law.

References

References

1. Douglas George Anglin. Zambian Crisis Behaviour: Confronting Rhodesia's Unilateral Declaration of Independence, 1965–1966. McGill-Queens, 1994.
2. Don H. Doyle. Secession as an International Phenomenon: From America's Civil War to Contemporary Separatist Movements. University of Georgia Press, 2010.
3. Briscoe, Neil. (2003). "Britain and UN Peacekeeping: 1948–67". Palgrave-Macmillan.
4. United Nations. Index to Proceedings of the General Assembly 2008/2009: Subject Index. New York City, USA: United Nations, 2010. Pp. 138.
5. Florian Bieber, Džemal Sokolović. ''Reconstructing multiethnic societies: the case of Bosnia-Herzegovina''. Ashgate, 2001. Pp. 41.
6. (1 October 2017). "East Timor's Independence, Indonesia and ASEAN". Springer.
7. (20 August 2015). "Three Centuries of Conflict in East Timor". Rutgers University Press.
8. Moxham, Ben. (February 2008). "State-Making and the Post-Conflict City: Integration in Dili, Disintegration in Timor-Leste". London School of Economics and Political Science.
9. Olmos, Francisco. (28 May 2020). "The curious case of the Republic of Karakalpakstan".
10. (18 October 2022). "Ukraine recognizes the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria".
11. [https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2008/ga10764.doc.htm Backing Request by Serbia, General Assembly Decides to Seek International Court of Justice Ruling on Legality of Kosovo's Independence], United Nations, 8 October 2008
12. [http://www.nspm.rs/nspm-in-english/accordance-with-international-law-of-the-unilateral-declaration-of-indepedence-in-respect-of-kosovo.html Accordance with international law of the unilateral declaration of independence in respect of Kosovo], Nspm.rs, 22 July 2010
13. [http://www.icj-cij.org/docket/files/141/15987.pdf Accordance with international law of the unilateral declaration of independence in respect of Kosovo] {{Webarchive. link. (21 August 2010 , International Court of Justice, 22 July 2010)