Abstract

Sovereignty has long been recognized as one of the defining features of statehood and, at the same time, as a fundamental concept of international law. The concept of sovereignty has always been receptive to binding international commitments as an expression of the sovereign autonomy of States. The ever-closer network of international obligations and the growing interdependence of States have not diminished the significance of sovereignty in the international arena. Nonetheless, the “global turn” has had a remarkable impact on the traditional understanding of sovereignty. Increasing independence of states, new forms of political and economic integration, arrangements for international security, human rights regimes, and the activism of the UN Security Council displayed over the last decades have transformed the concept of sovereignty. Sovereignty not only encapsulates rights and powers flowing from the territorial and personal jurisdiction of States it is also a focal point of concurrent responsibility. In a constitutional context, sovereignty has experienced a renaissance as code for democratic self-determination. The process of European integration with supranational structures of decision-making by and for the European Union’s member states bears witness to the elasticity of sovereignty as a legal and political concept. The inherent limitations of sovereignty which flow from the basic principles of international law enhance the legitimacy of the exercise of sovereign powers.