Contemporary Challenges to the Traditional Notion of Westphalian Sovereignty in International Law

Abstract

The Westphalian sovereignty is widely recognized as the cornerstone of International Law. It has had a trickledown effect on international law as it has led to the development of non intervention, equality of states, prohibition of use of force and equality of states. In recent times, the traditional legal construct of Westphalian sovereignty has been challenged by various factors including human rights and globalization . This paper assesses the relative nature of sovereignty in contemporary international law. An argument is being made that the absolute and lexicographic Westphalian sovereignty is now being made contingent by the changing nature of international law. The paper focuses on the emerging concepts of Basket theory of sovereignty, Sovereignty as a symbolic form, Isomorphism and Sovereignty as Responsibility to support the argument.