Referendum, also known as the national vote or ballot, is refers to in a country or a region, eligible to vote by citizens of the country or region in major matters are decided by the voting system. In this article, independence referendum from the perspective of national territorial separation, referred to as the "Independence referendum" or "Self-determination referendum", means the referendum that deals only with the territorial sovereignty of a particular country or territory.
After the Second World War, Independence referendum as national self-determination began to rise and subsequently has been developed so far, independence referendum has played a huge role in achieving national liberation and national independence. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the 1980s, with the continuous development of regional nationalist movement and the deepening of national contradictions, from Kosovo independence to the Crimean referendum and the Scottish referendum, and then to the constant competition in Quebec, Basque and Catalonia, and other multi-ethnic countries and regions, the problem of legitimacy and applicability of the independence referendum is always in dispute. In the final analysis, the reason is international law about the legitimacy of the referendum judgment has not established a clear and unified standard yet, so independence referendum is easy to be abused and even lead to international disputes and international war.
In this paper, we will use literal analysis method, literature research method, example analysis and other research methods to discuss the theoretical basis of independence referendum, and select the global practice of the independence referendum to carry out empirical analysis, elaborate the legitimacy judgment standard of Independence referendum and then summarizes the problems in the practice of independence referendum. Finally the conclusion of this article try to give some personal advice on the formulation and perfection of independence referendum.