The sovereign equality of States

5.2.1 General

The sovereign equality of states, of all the fundamental principles regulating IR, is the only one that everyone agrees on. It has the support of all groups of States, irrespective of ideologies, political leanings, and circumstances. Whole body of international law rests on idea of sovereign equality of states.

Principle has two distinct notions

5.2.2 Sovereignty

Sovereignty confers these powers and rights:

1. Power to wield authority over all the individuals living in a territory

2. Power to freely use and dispose of territory under the State’s jurisdiction and perform all activities deemed necessary or beneficial to the population living there.

3. Right that no other state may intrude on another state’s territory (right to exclude others, jus excludendi alios)

e.g. Cases of bounty hunters seizing criminals and tacking them back to face trial, violation of country’s sovereignty that criminal was hiding out in. BUT US Supreme Court trampled on this in Alvarez-Machain (1992), holding that capture of a Mexican man wanted to face charges in US court was legitimate and not a violation of extradition treaty.

4. Right to immunity for state representatives acting in their official capacity. Acts performed by State officials in international relations are not seen as individual acting on behalf of state, but as state itself acting. As a result, individuals cannot be brought to trial if such actions are contrary to international law. However, there are exceptions in the case of crime and in the case of individual actions in which person would be immune from both foreign jurisdiction and domestic arrest.

5. Right to immunity from jurisdiction of foreign courts for acts or actions performed by the State in its sovereign capacity and immunity for execution measures taken against the use or planned use of public property or assets for the discharge of public functions

6. Right to respect for life and property of State’s nationals and State officials abroad

5.2.3 Legal Equality

· Formally speaking, no member of the international community can be placed at a disadvantage; all must be treated on same footing.

· This means that states which are factually weaker remain in that position and don’t get a handicap or special treatment to compensate for structural inequality.

· It also means that legal constrains are only valid or legitimate if accepted in full freedom by the State concerned.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16