Saverio Di Benedetto , Sovranità dello Stato sulle risorse naturali e tutela degli equilibri ecologici nel diritto internazionale generale (State Sovereignty over Natural Resources and Ecosystem Protection in General International Law), Torino, Giappichelli, 2018 (Lorenzo Gradoni)

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 546-554
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Gradoni
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Ecosystem Protection

The Work of the International Law Commission on Shared Natural Resources: The Pursuit of Competence and Relevance

2006 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
pp. 321-338
Author(s):  
Juha Rainne
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Present Article ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Minimum Requirements ◽  
Difficult Challenge ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

AbstractA growing demand for rules that regulate the use of shared or transboundary natural resources is evident. The exploitation of water, oil or other transboundary natural resources in one state may often have consequences that delimit the possibilities of the neighbouring state to exploit the same resources. As natural resources in the boundary areas are expected to be a major source of controversy in the 21st century, it is reasonable to call for the development of norms that would set the minimum requirements for international co-operation and the maximum limits of state sovereignty in the utilisation of transboundary natural resources. The present article addresses the matter by analysing the work of the International Law Commission on the topic of shared natural resources. The Commission faces a difficult challenge as it undertakes to universally regulate a subject matter that is highly technical and politically sensitive and encompasses diverse regional situations. It is argued that the relevance of the work of the International Law Commission in this field and the competence of its legal experts can be questioned, as the Commission balances between too general and too technical an approach to the topic.

scholarly journals International Development Law: Resolving the Contentious Question of State Sovereignty and Right to and Ownership of Natural Resources

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 5759-5764
Author(s):  
Dr. Matthew Enya Nwocha
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Development ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Land Area ◽  
Ultimate Ownership ◽  
Domestic Jurisdiction ◽  
The Right

This work came up against the background of the contentious question and multiplicity of claims of ownership of natural resources located within a given state territory. The paper has addressed the question whether this claim legitimately inheres in the state as a sovereign or in the native inhabitants of the land area where the mineral resources are domiciled pursuant to the international right to self-determination. It is the finding that, among other things, the right to permanent sovereignty over natural resources is a legitimate one in international law. Notwithstanding, as the paper has concluded, only the legislature and the courts in any particular domestic jurisdiction can determine with finality the specific entity, institution, or unit within a state sovereign in whom this ultimate ownership resides.

Popular Resource Sovereignty

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leif Wenar
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Natural Resources ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Good Reason ◽  
Resource Curse ◽  
Civil Conflict ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
The People ◽  
Rich Countries

Article 1 of both of the major human rights covenants declares that the people of each country “shall freely dispose of their natural wealth and resources.” This chapter considers what conditions would have to hold for the people of a country to exercise this right—and why public accountability over natural resources is the only realistic solution to the “resource curse,” which makes resource-rich countries more prone to authoritarianism, civil conflict, and large-scale corruption. It also discusses why cosmopolitans, who have often been highly critical of prerogatives of state sovereignty, have good reason to endorse popular sovereignty over natural resources. Those who hope for more cosmopolitan institutions should see strengthening popular resource sovereignty as the most responsible path to achieving their own goals.

Sovereignty, Self-Determination, and Natural Resources

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérémie Gilbert
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Potential Role ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Ambivalent Relationship ◽  
The Right

The issue of sovereignty over natural resources has been a key element in the development of international law, notably leading to the emergence of the principle of States’ permanent sovereignty over their natural resources. However, concomitant to this focus on States’ sovereignty, international human rights law proclaims the right of peoples to self-determination over their natural resources. This has led to a complex and ambivalent relationship between the principle of States’ sovereignty over natural resources and peoples’ rights to natural resources. This chapter analyses this conflicting relationship and examines the emergence of the right of peoples to freely dispose of their natural resources and evaluates its potential role in contemporary advocacy. It notably explores how indigenous peoples have called for the revival of their right to sovereignty over natural resources, and how the global peasants’ movement has pushed for the recognition of the concept of food sovereignty.

Legitimacy

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
The State ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
International Courts ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
State Legitimacy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Supranational Institutions

This collection brings together scholars of jurisprudence and political theory to probe the question of ‘legitimacy’. It offers discussions that interrogate the nature of legitimacy, how legitimacy is intertwined with notions of statehood, and how legitimacy reaches beyond the state into supranational institutions and international law. Chapter I considers benefit-based, merit-based, and will-based theories of state legitimacy. Chapter II examines the relationship between expertise and legitimate political authority. Chapter III attempts to make sense of John Rawls’s account of legitimacy in his later work. Chapter IV observes that state sovereignty persists, since no alternative is available, and that the success of the assortment of international organizations that challenge state sovereignty depends on their ability to attract loyalty. Chapter V argues that, to be complete, an account of a state’s legitimacy must evaluate not only its powers and its institutions, but also its officials. Chapter VI covers the rule of law and state legitimacy. Chapter VII considers the legitimation of the nation state in a post-national world. Chapter VIII contends that legitimacy beyond the state should be understood as a subject-conferred attribute of specific norms that generates no more than a duty to respect those norms. Chapter IX is a reply to critics of attempts to ground the legitimacy of suprastate institutions in constitutionalism. Chapter X examines Joseph Raz’s perfectionist liberalism. Chapter XI attempts to bring some order to debates about the legitimacy of international courts.

Territorial Sovereignty

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Stilz
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
International System ◽  
Core Values ◽  
The State ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Territorial Sovereignty ◽  
Collective Self ◽  
Political Units ◽  
Territorial States

This book offers a qualified defense of a territorial states system. It argues that three core values—occupancy, basic justice, and collective self-determination—are served by an international system made up of self-governing, spatially defined political units. The defense is qualified because the book does not actually justify all of the sovereignty rights states currently claim and that are recognized in international law. Instead, the book proposes important changes to states’ sovereign prerogatives, particularly with respect to internal autonomy for political minorities, immigration, and natural resources. Part I of the book argues for a right of occupancy, holding that a legitimate function of the international system is to specify and protect people’s preinstitutional claims to specific geographical places. Part II turns to the question of how a state might acquire legitimate jurisdiction over a population of occupants. It argues that the state will have a right to rule a population and its territory if it satisfies conditions of basic justice and facilitates its people’s collective self-determination. Finally, Parts III and IV of this book argue that the exclusionary sovereignty rights to control over borders and natural resources that can plausibly be justified on the basis of the three core values are more limited than has traditionally been thought.

Criminal Threats Undermining Indo-Pacific Maritime Security: Can International Law Build Resilience?

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-220
Author(s):  
Jade Lindley
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
International Law ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Maritime Security ◽  
Broken Windows ◽  
Pacific Region ◽  
Maritime Piracy ◽  
Illegal Fishing ◽  
Crime Theory ◽  
Criminological Perspective

Maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region is strategically important to not only the surrounding states, but also those with an interest in its good governance, to support safe passage and natural resources extraction. Criminal threats, such as maritime piracy and illegal fishing, enabled by corruption and the potential for terrorism, undermine regional maritime security and therefore, there is incentive for states to respond cooperatively to secure the region. Drawing on broken windows crime theory, implicitly supporting the continuation of criminal threats within the region may enables exiting crimes to proliferate. With varying legal and political frameworks and interests across the Indo-Pacific region, achieving cooperation and harmonisation in response to regional maritime-based criminal threats can be challenging. As such, to respond to criminal threats that undermine maritime security, this article argues that from a criminological perspective, aligning states through existing international law enables cooperative regional responses. Indeed, given the prevalence of corruption within the region enabling serious criminal threats, harmonising through existing counter-corruption architecture may be a suitable platform to build from.

Perspectives canadiennes de droit international public et privé relatives à la maîtrise du territoire

1991 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
pp. 29-116
Author(s):  
Gerald Goldstein
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Free Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Territorial Disputes ◽  
Real Property ◽  
Full Account ◽  
Global Policy ◽  
Droit International

SummaryState sovereignty manifests itself through all the powers a state exercises over its territory: it is one of the basic components of sovereignty according to international law. Sovereign power involves controlling territory with a degree of efficiency sufficient to prove the existence of the state. But according to some, state sovereignty has now become less and less a matter of territorial control, and international law is now witnessing an erosion of the significance of territory. While the author admits the plausibility of this opinion when applied to states belonging to closely linked economic unions as the EEC, he challenges this statement when applied to Canada, even given the framework of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement. In Part I, this article gives a full account of the Canadian positions dealing with legally valid acquisition of territories through effective control and other means. It points out how Canada has been coherently committed to protect its territorial sovereignty in all the border and territorial disputes in which it was and is still involved. It explores how this country deliberately also committed itself to effectively controlling its vast terrestrial, aerial, and maritime territories.From this perspective, the author exposes in Part II the rather protective Canadian legal attitude when dealing with private international interests in Canada: how foreign investors are selectively allowed to own, control, possess, or otherwise acquire an interest in any part of Canadian land or real property through specific substantial rules or conflict of law rules; how Canadian federal and provincial laws deal with expropriating foreign-owned property or with foreign judgments affecting the same. In the view of the author, all these territorialist features strongly convey the idea that Canada still attributes a prime role to securing close control over its territory within its global policy of sovereignty and independence.

Rethinking sovereignty in international fiscal policy

2011 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 2107-2120 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER DIETSCH
Keyword(s):  
Fiscal Policy ◽  
Distributive Justice ◽  
International Law ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
Modern State ◽  
State Governments

AbstractThe power to raise taxes is a sine qua non for the functioning of the modern state. Governments frequently defend the independence of their fiscal policy as a matter of sovereignty. This article challenges this defence by demonstrating that it relies on an antiquated conception of sovereignty. Instead of the Westphalian sovereignty centred on non-intervention that has long dominated relations between states, today's fiscal interdependence calls for a conception of sovereignty that assigns duties as well as rights to states. While such a circumscribed conception of sovereignty has emerged in other areas of international law in recent years, it has yet to be extended to fiscal questions. Here, these duties arguably include obligations of transparency, of respect for the fiscal choices of other countries, and of distributive justice. The resulting conception of sovereignty is one that emphasises its instrumental as well as its conditional character. Neither state sovereignty nor self-determination is an end in itself, but a means to promoting individual well-being. It is conditional in the sense that if states do not live up to their fiscal obligations towards other states, their claims to autonomy are void.

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