Legislative sovereignty

Definition. The authority vested in the institutions of a state to adopt rules of law applicable in matters falling within their competence, in accordance with that state's constitutional order.

Key points. Legislative sovereignty does not necessarily mean that the legislature possesses unlimited power. In a constitutional state, the constitution determines the competent institutions, allocates their powers and establishes the rules with which legislation must comply.

In South Africa, national legislative authority is vested in Parliament. Parliament exercises that authority within the limits established by the Constitution.

A law adopted sovereignly in one state may provoke reactions abroad. Other states may criticise it, alter their diplomatic relations, take economic measures or determine the consequences they attach to it within their own legal order.

Such external reactions do not, in themselves, remove the authority of the national legislature. They may, however, alter the political, economic or individual cost associated with exercising that authority.

Legal sovereignty and the effective capacity to exercise that sovereignty must therefore be distinguished. A state may formally retain its power to legislate while being subjected to external pressure intended to influence the manner in which it exercises that power.

Related concepts. Extraterritoriality · Visa restriction · Targeted sanction · Affirmative action