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SOVEREIGN

Categories: Contracts

Definition (1910 Edition)

case in real or mixed actions or the personal action of debt or detinue,) but for damages only, as in covenant, trespass, etc., the action is said to be “sounding in damages.” Steph.

ry” rights as a state, like any private person, may have in property or demands which it owns. See St. Paul v. Chicago, etc., R. Co., 45 Minn. 387, 48 N. W. 17.—Sovereign states. States whose subjects or citizens are in the habit of obedience to them, and which are not themselves subject to any other (or paramount) state in any respect. The state is said to be semlsovereign only, and not sovereign, when in any respect or respects it is liable to be controlled (like certain of the states in India) by a paramount government, (e. g., by the British empire.) Brown. “In the intercourse of nations, certain states have a position of entire independence of others, and can perform all those acts which it is possible for any state to perform in this particular sphere. ‘These same states have also entire power of self-government; that is, of independence upon all other states as far as their own territory and citizens not living abroad are concerned. No foreign power or law can have control except by convention. This power of independent action in external and internal relations constitutes complete sovereignty.” Wools. Pol. Science, I. 204.

UK Law Commentary

Status: ✅ Still applies. The Crown is the supreme authority in UK law. Constitutional Reform Act 2005 removed judicial functions from the Lord Chancellor.

Modern Application

📜 Constitutional Reform Act 2005 • Royal Prerogative • legislation.gov.uk
Source: Black's Law Dictionary, 2nd Edition (1910) — Public Domain. UK commentary and modern updates are original additions. This entry is for educational reference only and does not constitute legal advice.