The Quest for Native Self-Government: The Challenge of Territorial Sovereignty

GEOFF R. HALL

ABSTRACT

Recognition of native self-government will likely involve the creation of native governments which exercise sovereignty on a basis other than the conventional model of territorial sovereignty. Such governments are often regarded as a threat to the existing legal system, in which sovereignty is usually based on territoriality. However, the existing law already contains numerous fields of law which employ concepts of sovereignty other than territoriality, for example, criminal law, income taxation on the basis of citizenship, diplomatic immunity, sovereign immunity, admiralty law and military law. Examining these fields of law demonstrates that territorial sovereignty is not an absolute concept in the existing legal order and presents possible models for native governments to adopt. By recognizing the inherent flexibility of the concept of sovereignty within the existing legal order, the existing legal system can coexist with native self-government in whatever form it arises. Existing law can become a positive force towards recognition of native self-government and can free natives to design self-government in creative and innovative ways.

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Citation: (1992) 50(1) U.T. Fac. L. Rev. 39.
Copyright © 1992. University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review.
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