Sovereignty is Dead! Long Live Sovereignty! From Nation-Based to User Central Jurisdiction in a Globalized Smart Society

Abstract

They used to be so close, the nation state and the law. The nation was primarily defined by borders, the state reigned as the sovereign within and could apply its laws. This simple and effective state of affairs changed due to various developments. One is public international law: it is generally accepted that trade, human rights, conflicts, environmental issues, etc. can be managed more effectively on an international scale. The effect of international treaties is that a state gives up some of its power, although due to the largely lacking effective enforcement mechanisms in international law, sovereignty essentially remains within national borders. This is different for the European Union which as a supranational body has more control over countries than any ordinary treaty organization, including the United Nations, ever had.On a more practical level globalization challenged the nation state as the central concept of the legal system. Citizens — and businesses in particular — are powerful players in the transnational scene. The internet plays a special role in all this. First, none of the existing normative mechanisms seems fully equipped to deal with internet activities. Second, the introduction of the internet as a world-wide communication infrastructure, accessible from anywhere, by anyone accelerated the process of globalization. So the internet increased the process of globalization, and added to the complexity of the legal system. Recently the cross-border use of smart devices, in particular smart phones, contribute both to globalization and normative complexity. The question addressed in this short paper is what is left for the nation state and sovereignty in the context of cross-border smart phone use. World-wide use, via a global infrastructure conflicts with local, national law, and that nation-based jurisdiction is ill-equipped to deal with an object which moves through borders of differing, national law.