A Blueprint for Survival: Low-Lying Island States, Climate Change, and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
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A Blueprint for Survival: Low-Lying Island States, Climate Change, and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
German Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 63 (2020), Iss. 1 : pp. 621–646
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Michel Rouleau-Dick, doctoral candidate at the Institute for Human Rights, Åbo Akademi University.
Abstract
This article examines the relevance of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta as a precedent for safeguarding the legal existence of Low-Lying Island States threatened by climate change and the rise in sea levels. The unprecedented nature of this phenomenon means international law offers no unequivocal guidance on the way forward for threatened States. As a result, most solutions to this problem rely either on the creation of new legal instruments, the reinterpretation of existing norms, or (to varying extents) on the goodwill of other States. However, due to its State-like characteristics, and existence independent from a territorial claim, non-State sovereign entities of international law such as the Sovereign Order of Malta could provide an interesting blueprint for a Low-Lying Island State to transit towards once the indicia of statehood becomes vulnerable to possible challenges. The core of the Sovereign Order of Malta’s sovereignty is discussed and outlined, followed by a survey of the relevance and added value of this option for threatened low-lying island States.
Table of Contents
| Section Title | Page | Action | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michel Rouleau-Dick\nA Blueprint for Survival: Low-Lying Island States, Climate Change, and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta | 621 | ||
| I. Introduction | 621 | ||
| II. The Problem | 623 | ||
| III. The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta | 627 | ||
| A. Nature of the Order’s Legal Personality | 628 | ||
| B. Sovereignty of the Order | 621 | ||
| C. Functional Root | 621 | ||
| D. A Territorial Relic | 621 | ||
| E. Other Religious Orders | 621 | ||
| F. Contested Sovereignty | 621 | ||
| IV. A Blueprint for Survival | 621 | ||
| A. Modus Operandi | 621 | ||
| B. Assessing the ‘NSSEIL Option’ | 622 | ||
| V. Conclusion | 622 |