AUTONOMOUS TERRITORIES

Abstract

The chapter describes laws and treaties on autonomous territories. Autonomous territories are entities that can be investigated from the point of view of both constitutional and international law. In many cases the administration of an autonomous territory has been arranged solely by means of constitutional law, although some autonomous territories also have a distinct connection with international law, for instance because of a guarantee treaty which will be interpreted primarily on the basis of international law. There are several autonomous territories which are usually regarded as models for autonomy. For example, the Aaland Islands, in comparison with the other administrative districts of Finland, are in a privileged position as the only district with its own legislative organs. Another difference is that the demilitarization and neutralization of the Aaland Islands is based on a treaty concluded on October 20, 1921 between Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Latvia, Poland, and Sweden. A comparable treaty was concluded on October 11, 1940 after the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union.