Meaning of Sovereignty

What is Sovereignty?

• Sovereignty is regarded as an essential element of the state. 
• The term ‘Sovereignty’ derived from the Latin word ‘superanus’ meaning supreme.  
• In the present context, sovereignty refers to supremacy or supreme power of the state. 
• J.W. Garner, in his introduction to political science (1910), had defined sovereignty as that ‘characteristics of the state by virtue of which it cannot be legally bound except by its own will or limited by any other power than itself’. 
• All classical definitions of sovereignty focus on supremacy of the state in the legal sense. 
• The basic idea is that the sovereign – be it monarch, chief executive or an assembly – is able to declare law, issue commands and take political decisions. 
• Each sovereign state is equal to every other in international law. 

“International Law – A set of general principles and specific rules which are duly recognized by the members of the international law is primarily concerned with the regulation of their mutual relations, peaceful settlement of their disputes, and the rights of belligerent as well as neutral nations during the times of war.”

• The concept of sovereignty attributes supreme power to the will of the sovereign, it is by nature an absolute, unlimited and perpetual power. 

“Perpetual – Continuing for a long period of time without stopping.”