Sovereignty and international law in the legal thinking of Weimar

Abstract

This article proposes to analyze the discussion around the state, sovereignty and the international political space from the legal thinking of Weimar. In particular, we will develop the ideas of Hans Kelsen, Carl Schmitt and Hermann Heller around international law and sovereignty. We will analyze Kelsen´s critiques about the concept of sovereignty to show the connection to his defense of the primacy of international law. We will also see how these ideas are linked to his pacifist and cosmopolitism conception of international relations. From these ideas, we will identify the differences with the conceptions from Schmitt, and Heller on the subject. In the case of Schmitt, we will analyze the concept of  political and in the case of Heller, on the basis of his critique of the notion of sovereignty in Kelsen. Finally, some conclusions will be offered around these ideas about sovereignty and international law.