Sudan: Workshop on Cases of State Secession

Over the past years, the Institute of Federalism provided scientific advice on questions concerning the 2011 referendum in Sudan. In November 2010, IFF compiled a compendium of how assets and liabilities had been allocated in previous cases of state secession. During a two-day workshop in Berne, organised by the FDFA for representatives of both North and South Sudan, Senior Research Fellow Dr. Rekha Oleschak-Pillai presented a paper to a Sudanese and Swiss audience on the principles applicable to movable and immovable state assets in the event of state succession. Based on its expertise in the Jura question, on Czechoslovakia, India and East Timor (among others), IFF worked on issues of citizenship, freedom of movement, dual nationality and immigration.

PARTNER: FDFA, PA IV

Sudan: Cooperation and Assistance in the Referendum Process

In January 2009 Prof. Hänni, Prof. Belser and Vanessa Rüegger attended a workshop, second of this type, held by the Federalism Research and Consulting Centre (Sudan) in Khartoum. The event aimed at a clearer identification of the mechanisms involved in the vertical separation of powers and to discuss the implementation of a series of recommendations. The participants (governors of almost all provinces in North Sudan, representatives of the central government, members of the scientific community and civil society and members of the media) analysed the weaknesses of the country’s current state organisation, the distribution of resources, ethnic conflicts and the danger of division. It was noticed that the urgent priorities, like state organisation and decentralisation were overshadowed by the referendum scheduled to take place in Southern Sudan in 2011.

In March 2009, three members of the National Constitutional Review Commission (NCRC) of the Sudanese government visited IFF to find out more about referendum processes in other countries and to discuss a potential Swiss support. The IFF decided to assist the Sudanese referendum process, where necessary, through comparative studies of individual points of law (e.g. the right to vote, quorums, legal principles).