Sovereign authority is the ultimate power of the state which regulates law.

Sovereign authority is the ultimate power of the state which regulates law. If there is no sovereign authority law cannot be imposed. The law is sourced by the sovereign authority and it is the command of authority. Discuss

Introduction

The word “law” does not imply a single meaning. In the Concise Oxford Dictionary “Law” is defined as “a rule or system of rules recognised by a country or community as regulating the actions of its members and enforced by the imposition of penalties”.1 The history of law of different communities has developed in various ways. Each law reflects the prevalent socio-political norms and values of the society which they regulate. For example, the history of “laws” of pre-literate African societies, are significantly different from the history of laws of a developed Western democracy. Law in modern definition is stated as set of rules established by a governing authority to institute and maintain orderly coexistence.3 The law of the state is imposed by the superior authority which is the power of the state. The supreme legal authority is known as sovereign authority or sovereignty. The history also indicates that without sovereignty law cannot be imposed and there will be no law without sovereignty. The whole paper will concentrate to show the relationship between sovereign authority and how it implements law to regulate human behaviour and social rights.

History of Law and Sovereign Authority

If we look into history, we will find the connection between law and sovereign authority. Our present day law has a lot of similarity with that of ancient Greek. The civilization of the Hellenes is our civilization. Hellenes science, art, literature are the basis of our current science, art and literature. At the very same time, we are concerned with their laws and their political economy. During that period Hellenes had travelled the same course over which we are travelling, and have had a similar experience in jurisprudence. They fought the same battle which we are fighting – the never ending contest between freedom and privilege. Law and legislation were their favourite topics; and from the beginning of their time till their end, the statesmen and the philosophers of the heroic race were ever busily engaged in the formation and application of the problem of human happiness in organized society. We can gain salutary lesson in jurisprudence and statesmanship from their work.

4.Greek History of Law. Retrieved from: http://www.historyoflaw.info/greek-history-of-law.htm

Sovereignty

Sovereignty is defined as the union and exercise of all human power possessed in a state that is it is the ultimate power of the independent state of the nation. It is considered as a combination of all power, ranging from the power to do everything in the state to creation and implication of new laws.5 Also it includes imposing and collecting taxes, and, levying, contributions; to make war or peace.

The supreme and absolute power lies in the hand of the government and through this absolute power the whole independent state is governed. Sovereignty in government is that public authority which directs or orders what is to be done by each member involved in a relation to the end of the task performed. It is also known as supreme political authority, the ability to admen and control the constitution and frame of government and its administration.6 The self-sufficient source of political power from which all specific political powers are derived; the international independence of a state, combined with the right and power of regulating its internal affairs without foreign dictation; also a political society, or state, which is sovereign and independent.

It is also considered as supreme power of the citizens, the citizens are governed and is the person or body of persons in the state to whom there is politically no superior. The existence of the state and that right and power which necessarily follow is “sovereignty.” When analysed, sovereignty is naturally divided into three great powers; namely, the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary.7 Legislative is the function or the power to make new laws, and to correct and repeal the old ones. Legislation (or “statutory law”) is law which has been enacted by a legislature or other governing body, or the process of making the law. Initially it is known as a ‘bill’, which is the item of legislation before it turns out to be the law and it is referred to as “legislation”. Legislations are used to regulate, to authorize, to proscribe, to provide (funds), to sanction, to grant, to declare or to restrict.8

5. Bouvier’s Law Dictionary. Retrieved from: http://www.constitution.org/bouv/bouvier_s.htm and http://www.hawaii-nation.org/sovereignty.html

6. Black’s Law Dictionary. Ed.6 .

7. Bouvier’s Law Dictionary. Retrieved from: http://www.constitution.org/bouv/bouvier_s.htm and http://www.hawaii-nation.org/sovereignty.

8. Legislation. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislation

Legislation is usually proposed by a member of the legislature (e.g. In our country it’s the member of Parliament). Most large legislatures enact only a small fraction of the bills proposed in a given session. Whether a given bill will be proposed and enter into force is generally a matter of the legislative priorities of government.

The people who have the formal power to create legislation are known as legislators; a judicial branch of government has the formal power to interpret legislation.

The executive part of the government has the authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the nation. It has the power to execute the laws both at home and abroad. The executive body consist of the chief of state, which is our President Zillur Rahman (since 12 February 2009); the head of government is our Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed (since 6 January 2009); the Cabinet is selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president of the state. The president is selected through election and through votes of the nation. President is appointed by Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last election was held on 11 February 2009 (next to be held in 2014) The election resulted with Zillur Rahman as our president, elected by the Election Commission on 11 February 2009 (sworn in on 12 February).9

The judiciary which is known as the judicial system is the system of courts that looks in to and implements the law in the name of the state.10 The responsibilities of the judicial system are to judge the disputes which arise among the citizens, and to punish crimes.

Legal and Actual Sovereignty

Legal sovereignty refers to the theoretical or impractical claim of a governing body to rule over its subjects. These rules are presented in a set of laws. Actual sovereignty, on the other hand, is the degree to which a governing body is actually able to control its subjects. This includes control of resources inside the state; enforcement and security; and ability to carry out various functions of state. When control is practiced predominately by military or police force it is considered coercive sovereignty. If people do not generally follow an authority that claims to be sovereign, little actual sovereignty exists.11

9. Bangladesh Executive Branch. Retrieved from: http://www.indexmundi.com/bangladesh/executive_branch.html

10. Judiciary. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judiciary

11. Sovereignty. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereignty

Broad Aspects of Sovereignty

Sovereignty has two broad aspects, internal and external. Internal sovereignty is the relationship between a sovereign power and its own subjects supreme over all citizens, foreign, associations and organizations. Internal Sovereignty refers to the internal affairs of the state and the location of supreme power within it.12 A state that has internal sovereignty is one with a government that has been elected by the people and has the popular legitimacy. Internal sovereignty analyses the internal affairs of a state and how it functions. A strong internal sovereignty is essential in relation to keeping order and peace. Weak internal sovereignty organization such as rebel groups will undermine the authority and disrupt the peace. The presence of a strong authority allows you to keep agreement and enforce sanctions for the violation of laws. The ability for leadership to prevent these violations is a key variable in determining internal sovereignty.13 The lack of internal sovereignty can cause war in one of two ways, first, destroying the value of agreement by allowing costly violations and second requiring such large subsidies for implementation that they render war cheaper than peace. Internal Sovereignty laws are final and binding. Every one of the state has to obey it. If it is disobeyed, physical penalties will be given.

External sovereignty is related with the relationship between a sovereign power and other states or territories. In international law, sovereignty means that a government possesses full control over affairs within a territorial or geographical area or boundary. Determining whether a specific state is sovereign is not calculated, but often a matter of diplomatic dispute. Foreign governments use various criteria and political considerations when deciding whether or not to recognise the sovereignty of a state over a territory.

Sovereign Authority, Law and People

As sovereignty in modern times known as the government’s authority to enforce laws over territory and state. And the government is by the people. Hence, the sovereignty lies with the people. Sovereign authority is for the people’s right, and any law can’t violate human rights of the people of the country.

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12. Heywood, Andrew. “Political Theory”. pg. 92. Palgrave MacMillian.

13. Wolford, Rider, Scott, Toby. “War, Peace, and Internal Sovereignty”. pg.1. retrieved on 21 February, 2013

Maintaining Sovereignty

The Sovereign, has no power other than the legislative power, and functions only by means of the laws. The laws are absolute and authentic. The limits of the possible in moral things are less narrow than we think that is because of our weaknesses, vices, prejudices. Roman Republic was a great state and the city of Rome was a great city. The last census in Rome showed that there were 400,000 citizens bearing arms, and the last enumeration of the Empire showed more than 4,000,000 citizens, without reckoning subjects, foreigners, women, children, and slaves. 14

What a difficulty, we might suppose, there would be in assembling frequently the enormous population of the capital and its environs. They exercised the rights of sovereignty, also part of the functions of government. They discussed certain affairs and judged certain causes, and in the public assembly the whole people were almost as often magistrates as citizens.

Law and Power

Government has the authority to create and impose law according to the constitution of the country, hence government is held liable. There is always a question regarding the violation of the power. According to Bangladesh Constitution “the people” are the highest as same as the U.S.A. The British authority lies in the queen of parliament. The governing body is elected by the people of Bangladesh. The sovereign power cannot be misused by the authority by their own will that is because law refrain them from using the arbitrary power.

Conclusion

Law is a rule or system of rules which is obeyed by a country or community as a control mechanism to regulate the actions of its members and enforced by the imposition of penalties. This law of the state is imposed by the superior authority which is the power of the state. The supreme legal authority is known as sovereign authority or sovereignty. Sovereign authority is people’s power and the authority cannot violate the law as there are separate sets of law which prevents them from misusing the power. As Sovereign authority has been considered the ultimate power throughout history, and since it has been implementing laws over states, there cannot be any law without sovereign authority.

14. CHAPTER XII.: How the Sovereign Authority is Maintained. – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Ideal Empires and Republics. Rousseau’s Social Contract, More’s Utopia, Bacon’s New Atlantis, Campanella’s City of the Sun [1901] : retrieved from: http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2039&chapter=145487&layout=html&Itemid=27

References

1. Bangladesh Executive Branch. Retrieved from: http://www.indexmundi.com/bangladesh/executive_branch.html.

2. Black’s Law Dictionary. Ed.6 .

3. Bouvier’s Law Dictionary. Retrieved from: http://www.constitution.org/bouv/bouvier_s.htm and http://www.hawaii-nation.org/sovereignty.

4. CHAPTER XII.: How the Sovereign Authority is Maintained. – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Ideal Empires and Republics. Rousseau’s Social Contract, More’s Utopia, Bacon’s New Atlantis, Campanella’s City of the Sun [1901] : retrieved from: http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=2039&chapter=145487&layout=html&Itemid=27

5. Greek History of Law. Retrieved from: http://www.historyoflaw.info/greek-history-of-law.htm

6. Heywood, Andrew. “Political Theory”. pg. 92. Palgrave MacMillian.

7. Judiciary. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

8. Judiciary Law. Retrieved from: http://www.lectlaw.com/def/l009.htm

9. Legislation. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legislation

10. The History of law. Retrieved from: http://www.lawteacher.net/history-of-law.php

12. Sovereignty. Retrieved from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereignty

13. What makes a country sovereign? Retrieved from: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-makes-a-country-sovereign.htm

11. Wolford, Rider, Scott, Toby. “War, Peace, and Internal Sovereignty”. pg.1. retrieved on 21st February, 2013

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