Characteristics of Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the quality or will that the people have over the power that a state possesses, it is an absolute and perpetual power, the highest authority that exists within a state. Likewise, it is the absolute power exercised by a state over a given territory, and is based on the law (constitution).

Sovereignty resides in the people (although at first it was in the sovereign, king, prince or emperor), but today, sovereignty rests with the people, that is, the people is the sovereign and the state watches over the interests and wills of the people to which it is accountable, understanding that sovereignty is the will of self-regulation and self-determination possessed by a people over its territory, air space, territorial waters, its system of government, laws and political, food, economic and social institutions within the national territory.

When sovereignty falls to the people, this (the people) delegates powers to their representatives. rulers to exercise sovereignty and ensure it, that is, sovereign interests and wills from town.

Characteristics of sovereignty:

It is the maximum power in a nation. It is the maximum power within a country since it does not admit other powers above it, since it represents the collective and inalienable will of the nation.

It is a primal power. Sovereignty is primal, that is, it is a power by itself that does not come from or originate from another power or mandate, it is not given by an established power (a state) or person.

She is one and indivisible. Sovereignty is one and indivisible, that is, it belongs to the entire nation and not to a particular individual, although each individual is part of the nation and shares sovereignty with the other members of the nation, as a private individual, sovereignty cannot be claimed as his own.

Sovereignty is inalienable and imprescriptible. This means that sovereignty cannot be transferred, let's say to another nation, even if the state or the majority of the people consent to it. In addition, the sovereignty of a country is not subject to temporary changes, it being understood that it is not expired. Nor is it subject to the permanence or change of a regime, being completely alien to the regimes that govern a country and their ideologies.

It belongs to the people. Its ownership belongs to the people (or in its case to the monarch), a single individual cannot be the holder of the sovereignty of a nation, without However, at first the notion of sovereignty fell to the sovereign, (king, prince or emperor), understanding that monarchs had powers to repeal and enact laws and were only subject to the "common laws of all peoples", that is, they had certain limitations. At present sovereignty rests with the people both in the republics and in most monarchies (constitutional or parliamentary).

It is based on a legal regime. The sovereignty of each nation is based on its legal regime, generally on the country's constitution. Therefore the constitution and other laws establish the ways to exercise sovereignty, delivering powers to the state to exercise sovereignty and protect it from interference and violations in any ambit.

The laws of a country establish the legal framework in which sovereignty is based, and establish who will represent the sovereignty of the nation, (public officials), legislative, judicial, police, military, customs, fiscal officials, etc. being the only ones legally authorized to represent the interests of national sovereignty and defend them establishing the independence of state power from any other power (internal factual, or Foreign),.

State protection of sovereignty.- The state is obliged to protect sovereignty (territorial, air, maritime), through the forces military and police, against foreign powers or powers that be who seek it impair. In the same way, the state creates methods and uses resources for the protection of sovereignty. food, industrial, fishing, etc., which is established in the constitution and in the laws of the country.