Multiethnic federalism in ethiopia and its constitutional mechanism of secession: an example for spain and the catalonia case?
Keywords:
Ethiopia, multiethnic federalism, right to self-determination, Spanish constitution, Catalan independentismCopyright (c) 2021 Revista Jurídica Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Abstract
Article 39 of the Ethiopian Constitution is a unique example within comparative constitutional law. No other State in the world legally recognizes the right of secession to all of its regions and citizens. This work analyzes the historical development that led Ethiopia to adopt this constitutional mechanism as a guarantee of its multi-ethnic federalism and the way in which it has been exercised since its approval. It also aims at outlining some analogies with the crisis produced by the independence attempts of Catalonia and to analyze the possibility that the Ethiopian constitutional design could be applied to other cases, such as the Spanish one.
Downloads
References
AALEN, L., «Ethnic Federalism and Self-Determination for Nationalities in a Semi-Authoritarian State: the Case of Ethiopia», International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, vol. 13, 2006, pp. 243–261.
ABDULLAHI, A. M., «Article 39 of the Ethiopian Constitution On Secession and Self-determination: A Panacea to the Nationality Question in Africa?», Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America, vol. 31, núm. 4, 1998 pp. 440-455.
ADEGEHE, A. K., Federalism and ethnic conflict in Ethiopia: a comparative study of the Somali and Benishangul-Gumuz regions, Doctoral Thesis, Países Bajos (Leiden University), 2009.
ALBERTÍ I ROVIRA, E., «El conflicto de Cataluña como crisis constitucional», Fundamentos: Cuadernos monográficos de teoría del estado, derecho público e historia constitucional, vol. 10, 2019, pp. 300-341.
ALLAIN, J., «Slavery and the League of Nations: Ethiopia as a Civilised Nation», Journal of the History of International Law, vol. 8, núm. 2, 2006, pp. 213–244.
BARCELÓ I SERRAMALERA, M., «El derecho a decidir como instrumento constitucional para la canalización de problemas territoriales», Fundamentos: Cuadernos monográficos de teoría del estado, derecho público e historia constitucional, Nº 9, 2016, pp. 363-391.
BBC NEWS, «Ethiopia and Eritrea blame each other for border clash» 13/06/2016. Disponible en: <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-36515503> [Consultado el: 09/07/2020]
BIHONEGN, T., «Federalization with a Constitutional Guarantee to Secession: Controversies, Paradoxes and Imponderables in Ethiopia», Regional & Federal Studies, vol. 25, 2015, pp. 45-70.
CRAWFORD, J., Brownlie’s Principles of public international law, 8th ed., Reino Unido (Oxford University Press), 2012.
CAZORLA PRIETO, L. M., Temas de Derecho Constitucional, 1.ª ed., España (Aranzadi), 2002.
COHEN, J.M., «"Ethnic Federalism" in Ethiopia», Northeast African Studies, New Series, vol. 2, 1995, pp. 157-188.
Constitución de Uzbekistan (1992). Disponible en: http://constitution.uz/en [Consultado el: 09/07/2020].
Constitución de la República Democrática Federal de Etiopía de 1994. Disponible en: <http://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/et00000_.html#I000> [Consultado el: 09/07/2020].
Constitución de San Cristóbal y Nieves (1983). Disponible en: <https://www.oas.org/juridico/PDFs/mesicic5_skn_constitution_annex1.pdf> [Consultado el: 09/07/2020].
Constitución del Reino de España (1978), publicado en: Boletín Oficial del Estado núm. 311, de 29/12/1978. Disponible en: <https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1978-31229> [Consultado el 09/07/2020].
FAYE, M. L., MACARTHUR, J. W., SACHS, J.D. y SNOW, T., «The Challenges Facing Landlocked Developing Countries», Journal of Human Development, vol. 5, núm. 1, 2004, pp. 31-68.
FERRER MARTÍN DE VIDALES, C., ÁLVAREZ RODRIGUEZ, I., «40 años de Constitución. Una revisión bibliográfica”, Revista de las Cortes Generales, n.º 107, segundo semestre (2019), pp. 361-381.
FISEHA, A., «Ethiopia’s Experiment in Accommodating Diversity: 20 Years’ Balance Sheet», Regional and Federal Studies, vol. 22, n.º 4, 2012, pp. 435–473.
GARCÍA ROCA, J. «Il tempo moderato de la intervención coercitiva del Estado (artículo 155 CE) en Cataluña: un comentario a las SSTC 89 y 90/2019, en particular, proporcionalidad y test de necesidad o razonabilidad de las medidas», Teoría y realidad constitucional, n.º 44, 2019, pp. 503-534.
GASHAW, S., «Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Ethiopia», en The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism, Estados Unidos (University of Wisconsin Press), 1993, 1.ª ed.
HABTU, A., «Ethnic Federalism in Ethiopia: Background, Present Conditions and Future Prospects», Paper 57 Submitted to the Second EAF International Symposium on Contemporary Development Issues in Ethiopia, 2003.
HABTU, A., «Multiethnic Federalism in Ethiopia: A Study of the Secession Clause in the Constitution», Publius, vol. 35, n.º 2, 2005, pp. 313-335.
KYMLICKA, W., Multicultural Odysseys: Navigating the New International Politics of Diversity, 1.ª ed., Reino Unido (Oxford University Press), 2009.
LATA, L., «The Ethiopia-Eritrea War», Review of African Political Economy, vol. 30, 2003, pp. 369-388.
MEAREG, A., «The Edge of Ethnic Federalism, Prospects and Glooms in the Post-1991 Ethiopia», Public Policy and Administration Research, vol. 7, n.º 3, 2017.
MUÑOZ MACHADO, S.; AJA FERNÁNDEZ, E.; CARMONA CONTRERAS, A.; DE CARRERAS SERRA, F.; FOSSAS ESPADALER, E.; FERRERES COMA, V.; GARCÍA ROCA, J.; LÓPEZ BASAGUREN, A.; MONTILLA MARTOS, J.A.; TORNOS MAS, J.; «Ideas para una reforma de la Constitución» (20/11/2017). Disponible en [Consultado el: 09/07/2020]
MURO, D. y QUIROGA, A., «Spanish nationalism: Ethnic or civic?», Revista Ethnicities, vol. 5, n.º 1, 2005, pp. 9-29.
SHAW, M. N., International law, 6.ª ed., Estados Unidos (Oxford University Press), 2008.
Stratford Worldwide, «Ethiopia: Can the Landlocked Power Restore Its Former Glory?», 31/03/2017. Disponible en <https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/ethiopia-can-landlocked-power-restore-its-former-glory> [Consultado el: 09/07/2020]
YOUNG, J., «Regionalism and democracy in Ethiopia», Third World Quarterly, vol. 19, n.º 2, 1998, pp. 191-204.