THE CONCEPT OF SOVEREIGNTY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND LESSONS FOR NIGERIA

THE CONCEPT OF SOVEREIGNTY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND LESSONS FOR NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION

Sovereignty is the central pillar of the contemporary international

system. All regional groupings mention in their constituent instruments,

“Sovereignty” and “Independence” as fundamental principle and their

observance and respect is the real basis of their organization1. Sovereignty

thus presupposes the independence of states to conduct their affairs

without the interference in, influence or coercion of any other state. In

bilateral and multilateral relations between states, sovereignty occupies a

very important place. Thus it is rare not to find insistence upon it in

important treaties and declarations of international organizations2.

The United Nations (UN) Charter lists sovereign equality as the first

principle upon which the organization is based. Its Article 2(7) protects

states from the intervention of the organization in their domestic

jurisdiction. The United Nations Resolution 2625 (xxv) (The Declaration

on Friendly Relations Resolution) gave, in fact, an important place to the

principle of sovereign equality. It stipulates that, “All states enjoy

sovereign equality, they have equal rights and duties and are equal

members of the international community, notwithstanding differences of

economic, social, political, or other nature”.1

It is thus apparent that sovereign equality presupposes that each

state enjoys the rights inherent in full sovereignty3. The declaration

contained in the paragraph above makes it clear that the principles

embodied in it constitutes the basic principles of international law and as

such would be the guidelines which all states and not only members of the

organization should conduct their mutual relations. Within the UN, there

is no diminishing importance of sovereignty. It is the central feature of the

organization4.

There is no doubt that, while respect has been accorded independent

states, particularly, in the area of non-intervention in their domestic affairs,

new issues have continued to emerge in international law and that is in the

area of human rights protection. Thus human rights have made a

significant impact on international law. It has particularly affected the

sovereignty of states and the assumption that international law is solely a

state based system5. There is now a general agreement that human rights

are a matter of legitimate international concern and they are appropriately

a part of the international legal system.

It is in this vein that claims of title to territory cannot be made

without some consideration of the rights of the inhabitants of that

territory6. This has meant that state sovereignty has been limited as the

treatment of an individual by a state is a matter of international concern

and not a matter purely for national jurisdiction. Other issues too have

continued to affect this doctrine of sovereignty aside from claims of

human rights violations7. These issues include claims as to possession of

weapons of mass destruction, as in the case of United States and Iraq; self

defense, intervention to protect the lives and properties of nationals and

intervention to enforce provisions of a treaty8.

TOPIC: THE CONCEPT OF SOVEREIGNTY IN INTERNATIONAL LAW: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND LESSONS FOR NIGERIA

Chapters: 1 - 5
Delivery: Email

Number of Pages: 75

Price: 3000 NGN

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