Přehled o publikaci

The Czechoslovak Republic was established on the basis of the then existent international political principle of self-determination of nations, applied to it by the AlIies in the Saint-Germain Peace Treaty. That principle became generally binding in international law by Its integration in Article 1.2 of the Charter of the United Nations. The legal content of this principle is nonetheless unclear and imprecise. It does not define the term nation; it does not ensure full equality between nations claiming self-determination; and it lacks precision in terms of how the right of self-determination is to be implemented. In the beginning of 1990s the nations of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic made use of the second opportunity for their self-determination. However, in contrast to the Czechoslovak law, international law was actually not relevant to solve such a situation. In an unclear constitutional situation, the path chosen was one of political negotiations led not within, but parallel to the constitution, which respected the equality of participating nations, and which resulted in a constitutional law on the dissolution of the State. However, legal doubts arise not only with regard to the fact that the Constitutional Court of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic was given no opportunity for clarifying whether the constitutional order allowed for taking such a path, but also with regard to the fact that the people, being the original constituent power, were given no say in a referendum on the second opportunity for self-determination.