The Right of Independence
Sovereignty
▪ from Old French soverain, from Vulgar Latin superanus which
means "chief, principal“
▪ It is the supreme, uncontrollable power inherent in a state by
which that state is governed
▪ It is the supreme power of the state to command and enforce
obedience, the power to which, legally speaking, all interests
are practically subject and all wills subordinate
▪ In international law: Attribute that enables the state to make its
own decisions free from external influence from other states
Aspects of Sovereignty
• Power of the state to direct its
Internal
domestic affairs
• e.g. establishment of own government,
enactment of laws, adoption of
economic policies
• Freedom of the state to control its own
External
foreign affairs
• e.g. entering into treaties, declaration
of war, diplomatic and commercial
relations
Nature of Independence
Independence
Freedom
Your Liberty To Swing Your Fist Ends Just Where My Nose Begins
William Edward Hall
“The ultimate foundation of international law is an assumption
that states possess rights and are subject to duties corresponding
to the facts of their postulated nature. In virtue of this assumption
it is held that since states exist, and are independent beings,
possessing property, they have the right to do whatever is
necessary for the purpose of continuing and developing their
existence, of giving effect to and preserving their independence,
and of holding and acquiring property, subject to the qualification
that they are bound correlatively to respect these rights in others.
It is also considered that their moral nature imposes upon them
the duties of good faith, of concession of redress for wrongs, of
regard for the personal dignity of their fellows, and to a certain
extent of sociability.”
Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan)
▪ State of nature - people could do whatever they wanted
▪ People living in this violent state of nature will seek to create
social agreements with each other. For example, "I won't steal
from or kill you if you won't steal from or kill me."
Intervention
• Act by which a state
interferes with the Independence
domestic or foreign affairs
of another state or states
through the employment of
force or threat of force
• Allowed only when it is
exercised as an act of self-
defense or when decreed
by UN Security Council Intervention
Some declarations about non-intervention
UN Declaration of the Rights and Duties of States - “every state
has the duty to refrain from intervention in the internal or external
affairs of any other State.”
Charter of the Organization of American States – “no State or
group of States has the right to intervene, directly or indirectly, for
any reason whatsoever, in the internal or external affairs of any
other State”
Non-intervention rules have been blurred
due to Humanitarian reasons
Battle of Mogadishu– “Black Hawk Down”
The Drago Doctrine
▪ Announced in 1902 by the Argentine Minister of Foreign Affairs
Luis María Drago
▪ History: Venezuela then was indebted to Great Britain, Germany,
and Italy, which threatened armed intervention to collect. Drago
advised the United States government that “The public debt
cannot occasion armed intervention nor even the actual
occupation...”
▪ Read with “Calvo Doctrine” - jurisdiction in international investment
disputes lies with the country in which the investment is located. Proposed to
prohibit diplomatic protection or (armed) intervention before local resources
were exhausted. An investor, under this doctrine, has no recourse but to use
the local courts, rather than those of their home country. Named after Carlos
Calvo, an Argentine jurist
The Right of Equality
Article 2 Charter of the UN
“the Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign
equality of all its members”
Legal Equality
Legal relations Relative
that States distribution of
maintain with economic and
Political Equality
each other military power
between
states
Manifestations of right to equality
ü All members of the United Nations have each one vote in the
General Assembly, all votes having equal weight, and are
generally eligible for positions in the various organs of the UN
ü Every state has the right to the protection of its nationals, to
make us of the open seas, or to acquire or dispose of territory
Manifestations of right to equality
ü All states have same rights when involved in a war (e.g. POW)
ü Par in parem non habet imperium - An equal has no power
over an equal
ü Act of state doctrine - no other state can question the legality
of official acts of another state
Absolute equality: Fact or Fiction?
Consider working of UN Security Council: Non procedural
(substantive) questions are decided by the Security Council only
with the concurrence of the Big Five
Big five are permanent members of in UN Security Council
unlike others with a term of only two (2) years
The Nuclear Club
Rwanda Genocide of
1994
