Droit et souveraineté à l'aube du XXIe siècle

Abstract

SummaryThe author explores the relationship between the concept of sovereignty and international law. First, he examines this theme in its changing historical context, particularly the subordination of law to sovereignty by Hegel and the nineteenth-century positivists, and the various attempts by Kelsen and others in the twentieth century to assert the primacy of international law. He then examines the stress laid upon sovereignty as a means of obtaining a more just international economic order by states of the Third World. The implications of bilateral and multilateral agreements that grant broad powers to financial and economic international institutions are also examined to determine their impact upon the sovereignty of less developed countries. The author also examines the implications of the extensive practice of treaty-making and the adoption of rules and standards within a range of Specialized Agencies of the United Nations. He also traces the gradual development of the European Economic Community from free trade area to European union as envisaged by the Single European Act, under which the sovereignty of member states is steadily giving way. In the final analysis, the author concludes that sovereignty is a relative concept. It is not sovereignty itself which is impeding the development of a true community of states but rather the many economic, social, political, and psychological conflicts which impede the development of common values uniting the whole international community.