Suverenitet

Suverenitet er en eksklusiv rett til å utøve enerådende makt over en geografisk region eller en gruppe mennesker, som en nasjon eller stamme. Suverenitet innehas vanligvis av et styre, men kan også innehas av et individ. En monark som hersker over en suveren nasjon benevnes iblant som Suverenen i den nasjonen.

Forskjellige betydninger av suverenitet

Innen internasjonal lovgivning refererer det viktige suverenitetskonseptet til utøvelsen av en stats makt.

De jure sovereignty refers to the legal right to do so; de facto sovereignty the ability in fact to do so (which becomes of special concern upon the failure of the usual expectation that de jure and de facto sovereignty exist at the place and time of concern, and rest in the same organization). Foreign governments recognize the sovereignty of a state over a territory, or refuse to do so.

For instance, in theory, both the Folkerepublikken Kina and the Republikken Kina considered themselves sovereign governments over the whole territory of mainland China and Taiwan. Some foreign governments recognize the Republic of China as the valid state, most now recognize the People's Republic of China. However, de facto, the People's Republic of China exercises sovereign power over mainland China, while the Republic of China exercises sovereign power over Taiwan. Since ambassadors are only exchanged between sovereign high parties, the countries recognizing the People's Republic often entertain de facto but not de jure diplomatic relationships with Taiwan by maintaining 'offices of representation', such as the American Institute in Taiwan, rather than embassies there.

Tribal sovereignty refers to the right of tribes or of federally recognized American Indian nations to exercise limited jurisdiction within and sometimes beyond reservation boundaries.

The etymology of the word sovereignty, with origins in the Latin super, conveys the idea of "overness".

Forskjellige syn på suverenitet

Det finnes forskjellige syn på det moralske grunnlaget for suverenitet. Disse omsettes til forskjellige grunnlag for rettssystemer:

Tilhengere av prinsippet om kongers guddommelige rett tilkjennegir at monarken er suveren i kraft av en guddommelig rett, og ikke i kraft av folkets tilslutning. Dette medfører til syvende og sist et regime med absolutt monarki.
De fleste demokratier bygger på folkesuverenitetsprinsippet: i siste instans hviler suvereniteten hos folket, som frivillig overdrar utøvelsen av den til myndighetene eller herskeren.
Anarkister fornekter statenes og myndighetenes suverenitet.

En grunnforutsetning for suverenitet i legalistisk forstand er eksklusiv jurisdiksjon. Nærmere bestemt: når en beslutning fattes av en suveren, kan beslutningen ikke underkjennes av en høyere instans. Videre er det vanlig oppfatning at suverenitet ikke bare krever en rett til å utøve makt, men også en faktisk anvendelse av denne makten (ingen de jure suverenitet uten de facto suverenitet). Med andre ord er det ikke nok å kun hevde suverenitet eller kun å utøve suveren makt – suverenitet forlanger begge elementene.

Suverenitet og føderalisme

Federal systems of government, such as that of the United States of America, sovereignty also refers to powers a state-government has independently of the federal government.

The question whether the individual states, particularly the so-called 'Confederate States' of the American Union remained sovereign became a matter of debate in the USA, especially in its first century:

According to the theory of John C. Calhoun, the states had entered into an agreement from which they might withdraw if other parties broke the terms of agreement, and they remained sovereign. Calhoun contributed to the theoretical basis for acts of secession, as occurred just before the American Civil War. However, Calhoun propounded this as part of a general theory of "nullification", in which a state had the right to refuse to accept any Federal law that it found to be objectionable. These self-same southern states refused to accept that non-slave states had any such nullificatory right and insisted that the Federal government enforce the Fugitive Slave Act over any state's attempt to nullify it. Therefore, to accept the Calhoun doctrine, one would have to likewise admit that the southern states only applied it when it was to their own advantage, throwing it away when it was inconvenient.

According to the theory expounded in the Federalist party, the individual states did not, after the formation of the constitution, remain completely sovereign: they retained possession of certain attributes of sovereignty, while others were ceded to the Federal government; while many states existed, only one sovereign survived. Even if the origin was a compact or contract, after the "United States" were formed by a "constitutional act" there no longer existed a mere contractual relation: there existed a state to which all were subject, and which all must obey.

According to Austin: In the case of a composite state or a supreme federal government, the several united governments of the several united societies together with a government common to these several societies, hold joint sovereignty in each of these several societies and also in the larger society arising from the federal union, the several governments of the several united societies remain jointly sovereign in each and all.

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Forskjellige betydninger av suverenitet

Forskjellige syn på suverenitet

Suverenitet og føderalisme