Cyberspace and Sovereignty in Public International Law

Stanković Nikola (University of Belgrade – Faculty of Law), nstankovic@ius.bg.ac.rs

The paper studies the manifestation of cyberspace in the context of the principle of sovereignty as a fundamental principle of public international law. It is a young phenomenon that is still difficult to define in a clear way in the international community. The author analyzes whether, to what extent, and which formal sources of public international law apply to cyberspace. The analysis focuses on three central sources of public international law – international treaties, international customs and general legal rules. Cyberspace is then analyzed from two angles. The first, external aspect of the analysis seeks an answer to the question of whether, first of all, states as central subjects of international public law, but also the international community and to what extent, have sovereignty over cyberspace. Second, internal segment of the analysis is aimed at determining whether cyberspace has its own sovereignty. The paper briefly reviews the perspectives of the leading world powers, above all the United States of America, the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation. The author concludes that it is necessary to continue working on the regulation of cyberspace, primarily through the institutions of the United Nations. Only regulation at this level can provide the necessary legal regulations that will adequately regulate a specific area such as cyberspace.

Keywords: jurisdiction, state, international community, technology, digitalization, authority