The Legitimacy of Intervention and Violation of State Sovereignty

Abstract

Sovereignty constitutes the fundamental cornerstone for understanding the State, as it is the defining attribute that distinguishes the State and determines its form. It underpins its independence, coherence, and stability, being the supreme commanding authority and the ultimate source of power. Among its essential characteristics are that it is absolute, unlimited, and indivisible, and that it is neither transferable nor subject to division or fragmentation. International intervention, understood as an act whereby a State interferes in the internal affairs of another State through the violation of its sovereignty, thus amounts to the exercise of public authority by one State within the territory of another without the latter’s consent, regardless of the form such intervention takes or the legitimacy of its underlying motives. This remains the case notwithstanding that the principle of non-intervention constitutes one of the fundamental principles of international law.