The APROFED association for legislative sovereignty

Hello everyone,

Last week we saw the definition of a non-sovereign state.

This week, the APROFED association is coming back to you to give you the  definition of a sovereign State .

Although several definitions exist, a  sovereign state is considered to have 4 characteristics  :

– a population,

– a given territory,

– internal sovereignty,

– and finally external sovereignty.

A common population in a common territory makes it possible to define, as we saw last week, a nation-state.

If we add to this  internal sovereignty, which allows a State to organize itself as it wishes,  and external or international sovereignty, which means that a State is not subject to the will of any other State, we thus obtain a sovereign State.

We will not return here to the notion of the nation-state, given last week.

Regarding internal sovereignty, while  New Caledonia has a Congress that allows it to pass its own “country laws,” it does not, however, have legislative sovereignty,  at most a certain autonomy.  Its laws must be ratified before promulgation by the Council of State and the Constitutional Council  of the French State.  The latter thus has the final say and is de facto considered the true legislator in New Caledonia,  leading some to  describe the Congress of New Caledonia as a “puppet assembly” or a “decoy”, as already described in 1972 by the satirical anti-colonial newsletter Awa, founded by Max Chivot, about the Territorial Assembly. The latter thought it had authority when in reality it had none (Awa n°2, 1972). E, 1974, it is even described as powerless, just like the government, where in 1975, the post of president was occupied by the French governor (see CHAPPELL David, The Kanak Awakening, The Rise of Nationalism in New Caledonia, UNC-Madrépores, 2013, p.155). At the end of 1978, the Secretary of State for Overseas Departments and Territories, Paul Dijoud, suspended the Governing Council of New Caledonia, granting full powers to the governor for the first time since 1958 (Ovington, 1988).

This is why  the association is asking that New Caledonia acquire its legislative sovereignty ,  that is to say its internal sovereignty  so that the country’s laws are no longer subject to metropolitan France. External sovereignty, that is to say sovereign powers (currency, defense, diplomacy), remains with the French State.

It would therefore be appropriate to change the status of  New Caledonia, which already has a “legislative specialty,” which means that not all French laws are applied in New Caledonia,  to a  “legislative sovereignty,” which means that Caledonian laws are not subject to approval by the French State, thus granting the country a sort of “independence for internal use” or “small independence.” Similar to the notion of “self-government” in Anglo-Saxon law,  which designates the capacity to administer oneself or the independence of action of a government in its internal affairs.

For example, the French Constitution could state that “the laws of the country of New Caledonia are not subject to the judicial review of the Constitutional Council. The latter may be referred to the Congress of New Caledonia in an advisory capacity.” This would constitute an exception that would allow, in matters falling under its exclusive jurisdiction, laws that could not be subject to constitutional review by the Constitutional Council. The latter could not censor a law of the country. It could only issue a non-binding opinion, at the request of the Caledonian institutions. This would confer almost complete normative sovereignty over the transferred matters.

The establishment of this legislative sovereignty would thus revive Mr. Lenormand’s 1958 vision, which held that New Caledonia had the right to govern itself and democratically manage its own affairs. In 1956, the French governor (the forerunner of the High Commissioner) occupied a more symbolic role by only retaining control over defense, finance, public security, international transportation, and foreign affairs (see D. Chappell, The Kanak Awakening, The Rise of Nationalism in New Caledonia, UNC-Madrépores, 2013, p. 64).

Unfortunately, the State’s forced passage regarding the thawing of the electoral body has demonstrated a desire not only to share no sovereignty or even to reverse the current autonomy of the territory and why not its “legislative specialty” thus recentralizing all powers in Paris and imposing France’s directives on New Caledonia. However, despite the fact that the republican State has replaced royalty, it appears that it perpetuates the vision of sovereignty built in the 16th century which was intended to be without sharing, nor competitor, entirely centralized, hence the qualification given by some to the State, today, of republican monarchy.

We wish you a good read and remind you that federalism is the only solution to reconcile unity in diversity.

The APROFED association