This edited collection gathers together Canadian and non-Canadian scholars to reflect on and celebrate the 20thanniversary of the Quebec Secession Reference, delivered by the Canadian Supreme Court in 1998.

1. Introduction: The Legacy of the Quebec Reference Re Secession.- 2. The Legacy of the Quebec Secession Reference Ruling in Canada and Internationally.- 3. The Law and Politics of Secession: From the Political Contingency of Secession to a “Right to Decide”? Can Lessons Be Learned from the Quebec Case?.- 4. The Reception in Spain of the Reference of the Supreme Court of Canada on the Secession of Quebec.- 5. The Reference Re Secession of Quebec, the Kosovo Advisory Opinion and the Questions They Leave Open. the Right to Decide, the Principle of Stability, and the Duty to Negotiate.- 6. Metaconstitutionalising Secession: The Reference and Scotland (In Europe).- 7. Constitutional Migrations in the Commonwealth:  the Quebec Secession Reference and Sri Lankan Constitutional Discourse.- the Reference and Ethiopian Constitutionalism.- 8. Secessionist Impulses and the Italian Legal System: The (Non)Influence of the Reference of Secession.- 9. Secession Reference and Its Intellectual Legacy: Skeptical Notes from the European Peripheries.- 10. A Political Theory Perspective on the Reference.- 11. “A Message of Hope”. a Legal Perspective on the Reference.- 12. Towards a Comparative Constitutional Law of Secession?

This edited collection gathers together Canadian and non-Canadian scholars to reflect on and celebrate the 20thanniversary of the Quebec Secession Reference, delivered by the Canadian Supreme Court in 1998. It opens withtwo Canadian scholars exchanging thoughts on the legacy of the reference from a domestic perspective as one ofthe most questioned decisions of the Canadian Supreme Court. To follow, non-Canadian scholars discuss theimpact of this reference abroad, reflecting upon its influence in European and non-European contexts (Spain,Scotland, the EU after Brexit, Eastern European Countries, Ethiopia, and Asia). Two final chapters, one by a lawyerand one by a political scientist, explore the democratic theory behind that reference.

“In exploring the legacy of the Quebec Secession Reference , this interesting collection revisits one of the existential moments in which a Supreme Court had to rule on the normative nature of a federation. The various perspectives brought to this question offer fascinating answers far beyond the Canadian experience.” (Robert Schütze, Professor of European Union Law, Durham University, USA)

“A wonderful, timely celebration of a watershed judicial decision: anyone who cares about secession must read this outstanding collection.” (Carlos Closa, Professor of Political Science, European University Institute, Italy)

First collection of essays to address the importance of the Quebec Secession Reference as a turning point in Canadian law of secession Brings together both Canadian and non-Canadian scholars for an international/comparative study of the Canadian influence on laws of secession Appeals to scholars and students of comparative politics, federalism, and public law

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