Full Sovereign Equality: A Historical Study of Latin American Countries under International Law
| Autor | Matthias Packeiser |
| Cargo del Autor | PhD Tilburg and Hamburg Universities. He holds a master degree in law from the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (The Netherlands) |
| Páginas | 115-160 |
Full Sovereign Equality: A Historical
Study of Latin American Countries
under International Law
Matthias Packeiser*
e doctrine of equality of states is one of the
most rearmed principles of the law of
nations, analyzed, dissected and criticized
by legal scholars; mouthed with dogmatic
vehemence by the world politicians; and,
more often than not, disregarded by
statesmen who parade across the pages of
history settling, or attempting to settle, the
aairs of nations.1
e quote stems from the introductory part of an article
published in 1951 by Ann van Wynen omas and her hus-
band A. J. omas, Jr. e words clearly reect that even in
the early years after World War , the principle of sovereign
equality was not fully realized. It often remained hollow
in practice, despite the fact that the Charter of the United
* PhD Tilburg and Hamburg Universities. He holds a master degree in law
from the Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen (e Netherlands). Email: matthias.
packeiser@uni-hamburg.de
1 Ann van Wynen omas, and A. J. omas, Jr., “Equality of States in Inter-
national Law-Fact or Fiction”. Virginia Law Review, vol. 37, no. 6, 1951, p. 791.
115
Nations () was already in force. According to Article 2 (1)
of the Charter, the is based (inter alia) on the sovereign
equality of its adhering states. It is often claimed that since
the introduction of this provision in 1945, the principle was
awarded “a character of universality which cannot too readily
be contravened and ignored;”
2
and, indeed, it constitutes one
of the fundamental and incontrovertible elements
3
of interna-
tional law today.
4
It was repeatedly infringed after 1945, and is
even occasionally challenged today. It can however be stated,
with good reason, that the principle of sovereign equality has
developed into a widely acknowledged element of internatio-
nal law. Infringements may still occur but are now an exception
rather than the rule.
Today, its signicance cannot be overestimated. e prin-
ciple puts all states on par by determining their formal (but
not their economic or political) equality. Its main feature is
the stipulation of each states’ autonomy and of the fact that no
2 Ibid., p. 792.
3 Compare, e.g.: Lora Anne Viola, Duncan Snidal, and Michael Zürn, “Sove-
reign (In)Equality in the Evolution of the International System”. In: S. Leibfried and
others (Ed.). e Oxford Handbook of Transformations of the State. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2015, p. 223; also: Juliane Kokott, States, Sovereign Equality [online
in: Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (, version of: April
2011), paragraph 1].
4 e recognition of sovereign equality as an elementary principle of inter-
national law can even be dated to an earlier point of history; namely the Moscow
Conference (October 1943) at which the United States, the United Kingdom, China,
and the Soviet Union declared to recognize: “[…] the necessity of establishing at the
earliest practicable date a general international organization, based on the principle
of the sovereign equality of all peace-loving States.” Quoted in: Hans Kelsen, “e
Principle of Sovereign Equality of States as a Basis for International Organization.”
e Yale Law Journal, vol. 53, no. 2, 1944, p. 207.
116
Derecho internacional: investigación, estudio y enseñanza
state may be subordinated by any another nation or entity.5 All
states must be treated alike before the law and international
law applies equally to all of them.
It was a long and arduous journey for the principle of
sovereign equality to be as widely recognized as it is today.
Its ideological basis was set in the writings of authors from
the 17th and 18th century, such as Hugo Grotius (1583-
1645), Samuel von Pufendorf (1632-1694), and Emer de
Vattel (1714-1767). Back then they argued for a universal
international law applicable to all nations.6 But, at the very
latest, since 1815, inequality became the normal state of
international aairs. At the Congress of Vienna, the Euro-
pean great powers established a strict legal hierarchy and even
granted themselves extensive intervention rights with regards
to smaller states.7 Legalized inequality became a common
phenomenon and was used to dominate the international
legal order throughout the 19th century. It took fundamental
adoptions of the prevailing legal order during the 20th century
until all states were granted equal rights as well as the same
status under international law.
One interesting but seldom reviewed chapter of this
process is the period around the ird Pan-American Con-
ference (1906) and the Second Hague Peace Conference
5 Viola, Snidal, and Zürn, “Sovereign (In)Equality in the Evolution of the
International System”, pp. 223-224.
6 Benjamin Allen Coates, Legalist Empire: International Law and American
Foreign Policy in the Early Twentieth Century. New York: Oxford University Press,
2016, p. 21; also: Arthur Nussbaum, A Concise History of the Law of Nations, New
York: McMillan, 1954, p. 86.
7 Gerry Simpson, Great Powers and Outlaw States: Unequal Sovereigns in the
International Legal Order. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, 93 et seq.,
p. 117.
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Full Sovereign Equality
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