Professor and Associate Dean Milena Sterio published a blog post on the prestigious international law blog, Opinio Juris, about the legality of the proposed Scottish secession under international law.  Professor Sterio’s post is entitled “International Law Should Matter – Thoughts on the Proposed Scottish Secession.”  The post is available here.

Professor Sterio’s post was selected for Opinio Juris’ online “Scottish Independence Insta-Symposium.”  Her argument is that international law should matter in secession issues, even if the proposed secession is legal under domestic law of the mother-state.  Moreover, Professor Sterio argues in this post that international law should develop to encompass a normative framework on secession, which would be helpful for future secessionist conflicts, and in particular in situations where the seceding territory is disputed between the mother-state and the secessionist movement.