User talk:Harlan wilkerson/Non-Sovereign States

International Law and Non-Sovereign States
Many editors mistakenly claim that Palestine does not exist because it does not exercise sovereignty, or because Gaza and the West Bank aren't under a unified regime.

At the end of the 19th Century most of the internationally recognized states weren't considered sovereign or independent. As a result, The Montevideo Convention did not mention the word sovereignty or independent:

Article 1

The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications:
 * (a) a permanent population;
 * (b) a defined territory;
 * (c) government; and
 * (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

The word sovereignty does not appear in the text or among the defined terms of the so-called Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976.

Several landmark cases involving "sovereign" immunity for "acts of state" have involved non-sovereign or dependent states. See for example Clayco Petroleum Corporation and Bruce Clayman, Plaintiffs-appellants, v. Occidental Petroleum Corporation, Occidental of Umm Alqaywayn, Inc., and Armand Hammer, Defendants-appellees Footnote 1: This court has held that the government of Umm Al Qaywayn is a foreign sovereign for purposes of the act of state doctrine. Occidental v. Buttes, 331 F.Supp. at 113. This determination was made when that nation was one of the Trucial States; the sheikdom is now part of the United Arab Emirates. This change does not warrant a redetermination of the sheikdom's status

The Great Powers routinely concluded treaties with administrative sub-districts (Tripoli, Kuwait, etc.) of the Ottoman Empire. In many instances those treaties were never forwarded to the sultan for ratification.

Legal Authorities, on the Question of Sovereignty
"There exists perhaps no conception the meaning of which is more controversial than that of sovereignty. It is an indisputable fact that this conception, from the moment when it was introduced into political science until the present day, has never had a meaning which was universally agreed upon." - Lassa Oppenheim, International Law 66 (Sir Arnold D. McNair ed., 4th edition 1928)

"Sovereignty is neither a question of fact, nor a question of law but a question that does not arise at all. What does arise is always a question whether a given authority may lawfully perform some act within the mandated territory or affecting it." Judge H.V. Evatt of the High Court of Australia, Chairman of The UN Ad Hoc Committee on the Palestinian Question. cited in Sovereignty in Cases of Mandated Territories, International Law and the Protection of Namibia's Territorial Integrity: Boundaries and Territorial Claims, S. Akweenda, Martinus Nijhoff, 1997, ISBN 9041104127, page 40

"The term " sovereignty " does not occur in the Constitution at all. The Constitution treats States as States, and the United States as the United States ; and, by a careful enumeration, declares all the powers that are granted to the United States, and all the rest are reserved to the States. If we pursue to the extreme point the powers granted and the powers reserved, the powers of the general and State governments will be found, it is to be feared, impinging and in conflict. Our hope is, that the prudence and patriotism of the States, and the wisdom of this government, will prevent that catastrophe. For myself, I will pursue the advice of the court in Deveaux's case ; I will avoid nice metaphysical subtilties, and all useless theories; I will keep my feet out of the traps of general definition; I will keep my feet out of all traps; I will keep to things as they are, and go no farther to inquire what they might be, if they were not what they are. The States of this Union, as States, are subject to all the voluntary and customary law of nations." The Writings and Speeches of Daniel Webster : Legal arguments and diplomatic papers. By Daniel Webster, Edward Everett, Published by Little, Brown, 1903

Types of Restricted Sovereignty and of Colonial Autonomy
Extracted from a Confidential report written by W. W. Willoughby, Johns Hopkins University, and C.G. Fenwick, Bryn Mawr College

Completed January 10, 1919, Washington, Government Printing Office

Semi-Sovereign States, Protected Independent States, Guaranteed States, Neutralized States, Vassal States

Types of Protected Dependent States: Colonial Protectorates, Spheres of Influence, Administered Provinces, Autonomous Colonies and Dependencies, Members of Federal Unions and of Confederacies.

Abyssinia - Protected Independent State

Afghanistan - Dependent State under protection of Great Britain

Albania (1912-1914) - Protected Independent State

Andorra - Protected Independent State

Australia - Commonwealth Autonomous Colony

Belgium - Neutralized State

Bosnia-Herzegovina (1878-1908) - Turkish provinces occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary

British West Indies - Crown Colony

Bulgaria (1878-1908) - Vassal State subject to Suzerainty of Turkey

Canada - Dominion Autonomous Colony

Congo Free State (1885-1908) - Neutralized State

Cracow (1815-1846) - Neutralized State

Crete (1805-1913) - Vassal State of Turkey under Protection of the Great Powers

Cuba - Protected Independent State

Cyprus (1878-1914) - Turkish province administered by Great Britain

Dominican-Republic - Independent State under the Protection of the United States

Egypt(1840-1914) - Vassal State subject to Suzerainty of Turkey

Federated Malay States - Dependent State under protection of Great Britain

French Indo-China - Dependent State under protection of France

Haiti - Independent State under protection of United States

India (British) - British Dependency under special form of government

India (Native States) - Protected Dependent States

Ionian Islands (1815-1863) - Independent State under protection of Great Britain

Korea (1904-1910) - Nominally Independent State under the protectorate of Japan

Luxemburg - Neutralized State

Madagascar (1885-1896) - Protected Dependent State

Monaco - Protected Independent State

Mongolia (Outer) - Vassal State under the Suzerainty of China

Montenegro - Guaranteed State restrictions imposed in favor of religious minorities, the neutrality of Antivari and Montenegrin waters, the rights of Musselman aliens, and etc.

Morocco - Protected Independent State (1906-1911), Protected Dependent State (1911- )

Newfoundland - 1835 representative government and constitution 1835. Closely approximates to that of Canada with respect to legal status of self-government and relation to British Empire.

New Zealand Dominion Autonomous Colony

Panama - Guaranteed State in exchange for canal zone lease and US sovereignty

Persia - Protected Independent State, British and Russian Spheres of Influence -German trade/railway agreement

Philippines - Autonomous Dependency

Porto Rico - Autonomous Dependency

Roumania - Guaranteed State Article XLIV treaty of Berlin relative to religious freedom and non-discrimination similar to terms imposed on Montenegro

Roumelia (1878-1908) Turkish province under protection of Great Powers, then Vassal State in Union with Bulgaria

San Marino - Protected Independent State

Savoy - Neutralized Provinces

Serbia - Guaranteed State Article XXXV and XXXIX treaty of Berlin Religious and Alien rights guarantees similar to terms imposed on Montenegro

South Africa - Autonomous Colony

Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian - Dependent State under the joint protection of Great Britain and Egypt

Switzerland - Neutralized state

Tibet - Vassal State under the nominal suzerainty of China

Tunis - Protected dependent State