Sovereignty Flashcards
What does Sovereignty and consent mean in IL
Sovereignty means that states have full control over their own affairs, and consent means they are only bound by the rules they agree to
Legal question in the US buying Greenland case
The recent discussion about Trump’s proposal to buy Greenland touches on sovereignty, geopolitics, and international law. While Greenland is not a fully sovereign state, it is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark, with the Greenlanders recognized as a ‘People’ under international law, holding the right to self-determination. Therefore, Greenland cannot simply be bought from Denmark. This situation also raises questions about who has the legal right to represent an entity under international law. From a realist perspective, this reflects a growing trend of countries prioritizing their own interests over international norms, especially when they don’t see compliance as being in their best interest. (If Greenland gets independence from DK they basically could go over to us) (Greenland still remains under sovereignty of DK, in practical terms it really isn’t DK to sell.
Can territorial change occur through purchase or acquisition under IL- territorial changes through force or acquisition without consent are not recognized in IL.
3 types of Sovereignty (int. -Westphalian - domestic)
International legal sovereignty: the basic rule of international legal sovereignty is: recognize juridically indirect territorial entities. Once a territory is recognized, acknowledged by other states is has the right to either into any agreement it chooses.
Westphalian - the basic rule is do not intervene in the internal affairs of other states. Each state has the right to independently determine its own institutions of government.
Domestic sovereignty: domestic sovereignty refers to the institutions under which a particular state is governed and their effectiveness. There is no rule or norm here.
What is sovereignty limited to?
It’s limited to a specific territory, so Denmark does not have the right to rule over let’s say Germany and vice versa, but Denmark has the right on what it can do in its own territory and the populations are protected under this sovereignty of the states. And all states in principle are equal…
Strong supporters of sovereignty?
All states basically. Both small and bigger states enjoy sovereignty in order to be able to do what they want to within their territories. And at the end of the day there are many different approaches towards sovereignty. Some see it as something that makes you not constrained on anything, for example IL, and the state can do anything. Sovereignty can be about deciding yourself, you can run elections and form the type of gov. You want
Article 2(1) and 2(7) UN charter
2(1): The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its members.
2(7) Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the UN to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state or shall require the members to submit such matters to settlement under the present Charter; but this principle shall not prejudice the application of enforcement measures under chapter 7.
