Catalonia - a New State in Europe? : Exploring the legal possibilities of creating an independent Catalan State

Sammanfattning: Support for the creation of an independent Catalan state has increased significantly during the past two decades. In 2017, an estimated 40.2 percent of the total Catalan population supported the creation of an independent Catalonia. The road towards independence has shown to be filled with legal obstacles. While the separatists tend to base their demand for independence on a supposed “right to self-determination” and a “right to decide”, the meaning and effects of invoking these “rights” can be questioned. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the legal possibilities of forming an independent Catalan state based on these commonly invoked rights. With regard to self-determination, this thesis concludes that all peoples have a right to self-determination, but this right does not necessarily entail a right to secession. Only under grave circumstances can self-determination lead to secession. The Catalans are not in such a situation and cannot therefore successfully claim that their right to self-determination entails a right to secede from Spain. As to a “right to decide”, the right as such exists neither within international law nor Spanish national law. This right can be broken down into two parts: The possibility to hold a referendum on independence and the possibility to declare independence based on the referendum. The thesis concludes that despite a referendum being complicated, but not impossible, to organise based on the Spanish Constitution, the Catalans can organise such a referendum based on international human rights law. The Catalans can also unilaterally declare independence since there is no explicit prohibition against doing so. Finally, the thesis discusses the issue of international recognition. Catalonia is unlikely to receive international recognition under the current circumstances. The thesis then concludes that even though the Catalans do not have a right to self-determination in the form of secession, they could organise a referendum and unilaterally declare independence. Such a declaration will however have no effect in practice without recognition from the international community.