Sovereignty and the Law

Abstract Sovereignty is a topic which is both of enduring interest and often hotly contested in the literature. This collection of essays builds on contemporary debates by taking up and exploring the theoretical and practical implications of current challenges to established doctrines at domestic, European, and international level. Sovereignty is therefore approached in a non-compartmentalized way, so viewing it as neither a purely domestic/internal concept nor a wholly international/external one.Grounded firmly in the disciplines of law, the collection explores the twin elements of continuity and change in conceptions of sovereignty in recent times. Individual chapters, by leading writers, examine a series of cross cutting themes including: whether sovereignty is in transition, has been revised, or has remained the same; contemporary challenges to the distinctive constitutional tradition of Parliamentary sovereignty; territorial government and popular sovereignty; sovereignty, constitutional dialogue, and human rights; judicial capacities to place new constraints on sovereign power; contested conceptions of sovereignty issues in the EU; jurisdictional limits placed on sovereignty as part of the international order; the concept of territorial extension as a challenge to territorial sovereignty; and transnational challenges to states from multi-national enterprise and the global revolution in communications. At a time of very great testing of the institutional frameworks at every level, the book illuminates the enduring strength of sovereignty as a foundational concept and the continuing widespread appeal of sovereignty as an idea.