realunion

Hei, Takk for innspillet! Det er meldt videre til fagansvarlig. Med vennlig hilsen, Mina i redaksjonen

Det er nok mest riktig å karakterisere unionen mellom Norge og Sverige for en realunion, siden unionen opptrådte som én juridisk person i sine relasjoner med andre stater. Unionsoppløsningen i 1905 var også foranlediget av en strid om nettopp representasjon utad: Norges ønske om eget konsulatvesen.

I boken "Oppenheim's International Law" (9. utg. ved Sir Robert Jennings og Sir Arthur Watts) beskrives realunion slik, med Sverige–Norge som eksempel (fotnoter fjernet):
"A real union occurs when two sovereign states are, by an international treaty, linked together under the same Head of State, so that they make one and the same international person. A real union is not itself a state, but a union of two fully sovereign states which together make one single but composite international person. Their relationship depends on the treaty of union, which will usually prevent them from making war against each other, or from making war separately against a foreign state, nor can war be made against one of them separately. They can enter into separate treaties of commerce, extradition, and the like, but it is the union which concludes such treaties for the separate states, as separately they are not international persons. At present there is no real union in existence, that of Sweden-Norway having been dissolved in 1905, that of Austria-Hungary having come to an end by the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918, just before the close of the First World War, and that of Egypt and Syria in the United Arab Republic having been dissolved in 1961."

Personalunioner kjennetegnes derimot ved at de to statene er uavhengige og suverene, til tross for at statsoverhodet er det samme. I "Oppenheim's International Law" beskrives dette slik (fotnoter fjernet):
"A personal union exists when two sovereign states and separate international persons are linked together through having the same individual as monarch. Thus a personal union existed from 1714 to 1837 between Great Britain and Hanover, from 1815 to 1890 between the Netherlands and Luxembourg, and from 1885 to 1908 between Belgium and the former References Congo Free State. A personal union may be said to exist today as between the United Kingdom and those other independent members of the Commonwealth, such as Canada and Australia, of which Queen Elizabeth II is also Head of State. A personal union is not, and is in no point treated as though it were, an international person, and its two sovereign member states remain separate international persons. Theoretically it is even possible for them to make war against each other. If, as sometimes happens, they are represented by one and the same individual as diplomatic envoy, such individual is the envoy of both states at the same time, but not the envoy of the personal union."