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Azopardi, Keith, and the Stateless , in the Modern Legal Context, Oregon, Hart Publishing, Oxford and Port- land, 2009, ISBN: 978-1-84113-916-6, 417 pp.

Gibraltar has become a mandatory reference in the topic of sovereignty. Azopardi’s book locates the topic questioning traditional concepts such as popular power , non-self-governing , sub-State constitu- tionalism, nation and others. The author is a lawyer and politician born in Gibraltar who participated in the constitutional negotiations between the and the of Gibraltar that resulted in the drafting of Gibraltar’s Constitution in 2006. The book is divided into seven chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 present the historical review of the case from the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, coming through the 1964 constitutional development of Gibraltar and arriving to 1986, year in which Gibraltar’s constitutional gains were paralyzed with the insertion of in the European Community. Chapter 3 examines the concept of sovereignty under the view of the different actors. Chapters 4 and 5 tackles the period between 1986- 2004. Gibraltar is presented as a sub-State. The incapability of solution of sovereignty matters is due in big part to the bilateralism with which it is treated. Chapter 6 presents the concept of sovereignty in a modern legal con- text. For the author sovereignty must be more flexible and independent even with possibilities of divisibility. Finally chapter 7 refers the self governance as the result of a tripar- tite solution that would give Gibraltar in a future a legal decolonized legal status. Gibraltar is a (self-perceived) nation (with peculiar characteristics due to the diversity of its population), governed by a “special govern- ment”. It obtained its own Constitution with permission by the British Crown without involvement by Spain, even though it is the subject of a

D. R. © 2012. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México-Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas. Anuario Mexicano de Derecho Internacional, vol. XII, 2012, pp. 1043-1044, México, D. F., ISSN 1870-4654 1044 RESEÑAS as an overseas with as anoverseas“” territory undershared sovereignty held it impossible toconsiderGibraltarasanew State. Itisinsteadconsidered disputebetween Spainandthe UnitedKingdom, makesterritorial which Gibraltar in-depth. is mandatoryreading foranyone wanting toexplore thesituation of ofthedebate. part issuesthat form Hisbook oftheimportant variety value of Azopardi’s study. onsovereigntydisagreement andnoneofthisshoulddistractfrom the a reevaluation oftheconcept sovereignty. But literature with is rife view(eurocentric) that theexistenceofEuropean Union demands bequestioned, modificationsThe value cancertainly ofsuch justasthe operative sovereignty (p. sovereignty 288), territorial (introduction). as:such functionalsovereignty (p. 284), sovereignty true (p. 286), co sovereigntyhence modifiestheterm withanadjective inmany cases, versionofsovereigntyState-centric cannolongerbesustained. He as such andScotland, Catalunya andtheBasqueCountry. by way thesituation ofotherstateless healso clarifies ofcomparison erations. theperspectivepresented. enriches This approach Moreover, including psychological,economic, consid financialanddemographic possible future ofGibraltar. Hefollows approach aninterdisciplinary evaluation ofthecaseisneededinstead.tripartite tion ofconceptsdemocracy, anddevolution self-determination ina bilateral between approach theUKandSpain inthecase. A reconsidera the European Union. The different pointsofview show thedefectsofa the UnitedKingdomandSpainbut includingthoseofGibraltarand different actors’ views onGibraltar, notlimitinghimselftoviews of theconceptofsovereignty. alsochallenges oftheEUsystemwhich part by theUnitedKingdomandSpain. Both oftheseStates, of course, are The authorpresents avery thorough study ofthetopiccovering a As tothelargerdebate onsovereignty, theauthormaintainsthat the Throughout theauthorpresents theseven past, chapters present and As isappropriateunderthesecircumstances, Azopardi pointsoutthe Anuario Mexicano deDerecho Internacional Anuario vol. XII, 2012, pp. 1043-1044 Evelyn Téllez - - - ,