Abstract
I have developed the two conceptions of sovereignty. In this chapter, I apply the conceptions of constitutive and constituted sovereignty to current questions and issues that involve the notion of sovereignty. My aim in doing so is to show that the insights developed in the previous chapters of the book can shed light on more practical issues. To do so, I consider first the case of secessionist movements in Scotland, Catalonia and Quebec to see what help constitutive and constituted sovereignty can be in this context. Second, I analyse the relationship between the European Union and its Member States; third, I consider the question whether there can be religious states, that is, states which are constituted not by the people but by a religious entity; fourth, I consider the (perceived) tension between state sovereignty and humanitarian intervention, and lastly, what the relationship between sovereignty and recognition in international law is. These topics have been the subject of a considerable amount of academic debate and literature. The purpose of this chapter is not to cover that body of literature, but rather to provide a starting point for future debates and a visualisation of how the theory of different concepts of sovereignty developed in this book can be applied to current discourse. This also means that this chapter does not seek to provide definite answers or end the on-going discussions on these topics; instead, it seeks to rephrase the discussions in a conceptually clearer light. Nevertheless, conclusions will be drawn where possible.
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Notes
- 1.
Generally both.
- 2.
Buchanan (2013), p. 1.
- 3.
Thompson (1996), p. 275.
- 4.
Ibid.
- 5.
Late June 2018.
- 6.
BBC News (2014a).
- 7.
Ibid.
- 8.
Mitchell (2014).
- 9.
Gyldenkerne (2014).
- 10.
BBC News (2017a).
- 11.
Tagesschau.de (2017a).
- 12.
Elconfidencial (2017).
- 13.
Human Rights Watch (2017).
- 14.
Tagesschau.de (2017a).
- 15.
Article 155(1), translation by Comparative Constitutions Project.
- 16.
Tagesschau.de (2017e).
- 17.
- 18.
Tagesschau.de (2017c).
- 19.
- 20.
Burgen and Oltermann (2018).
- 21.
Tagesschau.de (2017b).
- 22.
VilaWeb (2013).
- 23.
Cf. Sect. 3.2.3.
- 24.
Govan (2010), nota bene that for the sake of constitutive rather than constituted sovereignty, a court ruling is not authoritative, although it may have the same impact as if it were, depending on how it is perceived by the people in question.
- 25.
An international right to self-determination might play a role here as well. Thürer and Burri (2008).
- 26.
Jones (2017).
- 27.
AP Associated Press (2017).
- 28.
July 2018.
- 29.
Reference Re Secession of Quebec (1998), p. 149.
- 30.
Ibid.
- 31.
Ibid.
- 32.
From the perspective of the existing legal system.
- 33.
Cf. Hampton (1997), p. 249.
- 34.
Reference Re Secession of Quebec (1998), p. 88.
- 35.
BBC News (2014c).
- 36.
For an in-depth analysis of the various conflicts that can be identified with regard to the sovereignty of the European Union vis-à-vis its Member States, cf. de Witte (1995).
- 37.
Tamanaha (2001), p. 32.
- 38.
See e.g. Case of the S.S. “Wimbledon” (1923), p. 35; cf. also Koskenniemi (2010), pp. 225 ff. for a more elaborate view on this notion. Koskenniemi finds the limitation of this view in the “auto-limitation” and paradoxical nature it allegedly invokes; however, separating constitutive and constituted sovereignty avoids that charge.
- 39.
View of Advocate General Kokott, Case C-370/12, Thomas Pringle v Government of Ireland, [2012], ECLI:EU:C:2012:675, at 137. The Court in its judgement followed the conclusion proposed by AG Kokott, but did not mention the word “sovereignty” in its judgement.
- 40.
European Commission (2015).
- 41.
On the issue of names: Irshaid (2014).
- 42.
Euronews (2014).
- 43.
Isis Spokesman Declares Caliphate, Rebrands Group as “Islamic State” (2014) (emphasis added).
- 44.
Australian Government and BBC News (2014d).
- 45.
Amnesty International (2014).
- 46.
UNSC (2014).
- 47.
BBC News (2014d).
- 48.
BBC News (2014b).
- 49.
BBC News (2014d).
- 50.
- 51.
Wu (2010).
- 52.
Henderson (2014).
- 53.
Lowe and Tzanakopoulos (2011), A.3.
- 54.
Ibid.
- 55.
Cf. Nardin (2013), pp. 70 f.
- 56.
Orend (2008), 2.1. It conflicts with the idea of “right intentions” to an even greater extent.
- 57.
Whether a permissive rule or merely the lack of a prohibition is required depends on whether the system generally allows all things not expressly prohibited, or whether it allows only those things expressly permitted.
- 58.
International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty (2001), 4.16.
- 59.
Ibid.
- 60.
For a more in-depth discussion of this point, please refer to the sections on international constituted sovereignty in this book.
- 61.
This is, of course, provided that the question is answered positively. If the doctrine of non-intervention trumps the permissive rule, humanitarian intervention is always impermissible.
- 62.
Cf. Sect. 4.1.3.
- 63.
Crawford (2007), pp. 4 f. and 19 ff.
- 64.
Ibid. citing Wheaton’s Elements of International Law (3rd edn, 1846).
- 65.
A state might claim that it is “on this matter only” and that they otherwise accept international law but taking an internal or an external standpoint to international law or indeed any kind of legal system is not a matter of picking and choosing which rules to take an internal standpoint to, but rather an all-or-nothing matter. If the standpoint is internal, one must move within the legal system to amend or repeal rules with which one does not agree, if the legal system provides for such procedures; taking an external point of view means not accepting the system as a whole.
- 66.
Crawford (2007), p. 26.
- 67.
Ibid.
- 68.
Ibid.
- 69.
Ibid.
- 70.
This option is closely linked to the argument Vidmar makes holding that “that the effects of international recognition and non-recognition are determined by the underlying territorial situation and the mode of State creation.” Vidmar (2012), p. 387.
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Waltermann, A.M. (2019). Sovereignty in Context. In: Reconstructing Sovereignty. Law and Philosophy Library, vol 132. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-30004-3_5
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