Sovereignty

Sovereignty includes the following sweeping powers and rights.

(1) The power to wield authority over all the individuals living in the territory.This power might even be regarded as the quintessence of sovereignty.

(2) The power to freely use and dispose of the territory under the State's jurisdiction and perform all activities deemed necessary or beneficial to the population living there.

(3) The right that no other State intrude in the State's territory (so-called jus
excludendi alias, or the right to exclude others).

States have always vigorously protested and claimed compensation when foreign Sates have exercised on their territory public activities that had not been previously authorized. They have also reacted in this way when the public action on their territory had been performed secretly or by State agents allegedly acting as private individuals.

(4) The right to immunity for State representatives acting in their official capacity (so-called functional immunity). Acts performed by State officials in international relations must be imputed not to the individuals acting on behalf of the State, but to the State itself. Consequently individuals cannot be brought to trial and punished by foreign States for any official act, if such act happens to be contrary to international law. They are exempt from the foreign substantive law for acts and transactions performed in their official capacity and may only be prosecuted and punished by their own national courts.

(5) The right to immunity from the jurisdiction of foreign courts for acts or actions performed by the State in its sovereign capacity, and for execution measures taken against the use or planned use of public property or assets for the discharge of public functions. (The question, however, of defining these classes of acts or actions, or the public nature of assets, remains controversial.)

(6) The right to respect for life and property of the State's nationals and State officials abroad.