Protected Sovereign States and Territories Bill

A

BILL

TO

provide greater protection for the recognition of certain nations’ independence, for certain nations’ sovereignty over disputed regions, and for connected purposes.

BE IT ENACTED by the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—

PART 1

PROTECTED INDEPENDENCE RECOGNITION

1 Protected independence recognition status

(1) A polity in Schedule 1 is considered to have protected independence recognition.

(2) In this Act, ‘protected independence recognition’ is recognition that a polity is a sovereign state as it is an independent political entity comprising a people from a defined territory that has the capacity to enter into relations with other states and requires protection.

2 Amending a polity’s protected independence recognition

(1) The Secretary of State may, by statutory instrument amending Schedule 1 of this Act, determine that a polity does or does not have protected independence recognition and what the polity’s defined territorial boundaries are.

(2) Any statutory instrument made under subsection (1) is to be passed with affirmative procedure.

(3) The Secretary of State must consider adding a polity to Schedule 1 if—

(a) the polity in question has declared that it is an independent sovereign state;

(b) there is a dispute about the ownership of the territory that the polity claims sovereignty over; and

(c) the polity faces an active and serious threat to its existence.

(4) The Secretary of State must consider removing a polity from Schedule 1 if—

(a) the polity renounces its declaration of independence;

(b) the polity renounces its claim to their territory; or

(c) the polity no longer faces an active and serious threat to its existence.

3 Assistance in times of conflict

(1) The United Kingdom must assist a polity in Schedule 1 if another polity—

(a) declares war; or

(b) applies significant economic sanctions;

against that polity.

(2) The Secretary of State must consider whether it is appropriate and legitimate to provide the assistance requested or deemed to be necessary in regards to the assistance of a polity.

(3) If a polity in Schedule 1 engages in military action against another polity, the Secretary of State must consider—

(a) removing said polity from Schedule 1;

(b) making a determination about which polity has the valid claim to sovereignty over the territory; and

(c) diplomatic actions that can be taken to resolve the situation.

PART 2

PROTECTED SOVEREIGNTY RECOGNITION

4 Protected sovereignty recognition status

(1) A territory in Schedule 2 of this Act has protected sovereignty recognition.

(2) In this Act, ‘protected sovereignty recognition’ is recognition that a territory belongs to an existing sovereign state and needs protection.

5 Amending a territory’s protected sovereignty recognition

(1) The Secretary of State may, by statutory instrument amending Schedule 2 of this Act, determine that a territory does or does not have protected sovereignty recognition and to which sovereign state it belongs to.

(2) Any statutory instrument made under subsection (1) is to be passed with affirmative procedure.

(3) The Secretary of State must consider adding a territory to Schedule 2 if—

(a) the territory in question is recognised as owned by a sovereign state;

(b) there is a dispute about the ownership of the territory; and

(c) the territory—

(i) is under military occupation;

(ii) is facing civil war or unrest; or

(iii) is facing a high risk of military action.

(4) The Secretary of State must consider removing a territory from Schedule 2 if the sovereign state it belongs to renounces its sovereign over that territory.

PART 3

UNPROTECTED STATUS RECOGNITION

1 Unprotected Status Recognition

(1) A polity in Schedule 3 is considered to have unprotected status recognition.

(2) In this Act, ‘unprotected status recognition’ is recognition that a polity who has lost control of its claimed territory is and continues to be a sovereign state as it is an independent political entity comprising a people from a defined territory that has the capacity to enter into relations with other states and requires protection.

(3) In this Act, ‘alternative claiming polity’ is the other entity that currently occupies or controls the land in which the polity with unprotected status recognition claims.

2 Amending a polity’s unprotected status recognition

(1) The Secretary of State may, by statutory instrument amending Schedule 1 of this Act, determine that a polity does or does not have unprotected status recognition and what the polity’s defined territorial boundaries are.

(2) Any statutory instrument made under subsection (1) is to be passed with affirmative procedure.

(3) The Secretary of State must consider adding a polity to Schedule 1 if—

(a) the polity in question has continued to declare that it is an independent sovereign state;

(b) there remains a dispute about the ownership of the territory that the polity claims sovereignty over;

(c) the polity in question continues to maintain diplomatic consultation with the United Kingdom;

(d) the polity in question makes a formal request to the United Kingdom for continued recognition

(e) the alternative claiming polity to the polity in which is in question for unprotected status recognition is considered a terrorist or extremist state.

(4) The Secretary of State must consider removing a polity from Schedule 1 if—

(a) the polity renounces its declaration of independence;

(b) the polity renounces its claim to their territory;

(c) the polity itself recognises the alternative polity claiming the formerly disputed land;

(d) the alternative claiming polity establishes formal relations with the United Kingdom, and meets human rights expectations; and

(e) it is considered by the Parliament through affirmative measure to no longer be in the interest of the United Kingdom to be involved in the continued recognition of the polity

3 Requirements upon the Government

(1) The United Kingdom is not bound to assist the unprotected status recognition polity in any way, however may do so if such is the wish of the government, or by parliament through an affirmative measure.

PART 4

FINAL PROVISIONS

6 Definitions

In this Act—

’sovereign state’ is to be construed as “an independent political entity comprising a people from a defined territory that has the capacity to enter into relations with other states and requires protection.”

‘protected independence recognition’ is to be construed in accordance with subsection 1(2).

’protected sovereignty recognition’ is to be construed in accordance with subsection 4(2).

’defined territorial boundaries’ is to be construed as the territories outlined for a particular polity within Schedules 1 and 2

7 Extent, commencement, and short title

(1) This Act extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

(2) The provisions of this Act shall come into force the day this Act is passed.

(3) This Act may be cited as the Protected Sovereign States and Territories Act 2023.

SCHEDULE 1

PROTECTED INDEPENDENCE RECOGNITION POLITIES

State of Israel

1 (1) The State of Israel has protected independence recognition as defined by this Act.

(2) The territory of the State of Israel is the territory under their name as defined by the demarcation line set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between the nations of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Israel known as the Green Line.

State of Palestine

2 (1) The State of Palestine has protected independence recognition as defined by this Act.

(2) The territory of the State of Palestine is the territory under their name as defined by the demarcation line set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between the nations of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Israel known as the Green Line.

Republic of Kosovo

3 (1) The Republic of Kosovo has protected independence recognition as defined by this Act.

(2) The territory of the Republic of Kosovo is the territory of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija as defined by the Constitution of the nation of Serbia on the commencement of this Act.

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic

4 (1) The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic has protected independence recognition as defined by this Act.

(2) The territory of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic is the territory of Western Sahara as defined by the border of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania and the line at 27° 40’ N extending from the ocean to the border of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

Republic of Cyprus

5 (1) The Republic of Cyprus has protected independence recognition as defined by this Act.

(2) The territory of the Republic of Cyprus is the entirety of the island of Cyprus excluding the sovereign base areas of—

(a) Akrotiri; and

(b) Dhekelia.

Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste

6 (1) The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste has protected independence recognition as defined by this Act.

(2) The territory of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste is the territory of East Timor as defined in the Constitution of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.

Ukraine

7 (1) The nation of Ukraine has protected independence recognition as defined by this Act.

(2) The territory of Ukraine consists of the Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Chernivtsi, Crimea, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Khmelnytskyi, Kirovohrad, Kyiv Municipal, Kyiv, Luhansk, Lviv, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Poltava, Rivne, Sevastopol, Sumy, Ternopil, Vinnytsia, Volyn, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhia, and Zhytomyr Oblasts.

SCHEDULE 2

PROTECTED SOVEREIGNTY RECOGNITION TERRITORIES

Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia

1 (1) The territories of Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia has protected sovereignty recognition as defined under this Act.

(2) The sovereign state of the territories of Crimea, Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia is the nation of Ukraine.

(3) (a) The territory of Crimea is the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city with special status of Sevastopol

(3) (b) The territory of Donetsk is the territory of the Donetsk Oblast as defined by Ukraine

(3) (c) The territory of Kherson is the territory of the Kherson Oblast as defined by Ukraine

(3) (d) The territory of Luhansk is the territory of the Luhansk Oblast as defined by Ukraine

(3) (e) The territory of Zaporizhzhia is the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Oblast as defined by Ukraine

Golan Heights

2 (1) The territory of Golan Heights has protected sovereignty recognition as defined under this Act.

(2) The sovereign state of the territory of Golan Heights is the Syrian Arab Republic.

(3) The territory of Golan Heights is the territory under their name as defined by the demarcation line set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Israel known as the Green Line.

SCHEDULE 3

UNPROTECTED STATUS RECOGNITION POLITIES

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan

1 (1) The polity of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has unprotected sovereignty recognition as defined under this Act.

(2) The territory of Afghanistan is the territory of the 34 divisions of Afghanistan.

This Bill was submitted by The Right Honourable Dame Youma, The Baroness of Motherwell, LT MBE PC MP on behalf of Unity.

Speaker,

Over the past few years, our nation has witnessed a wave of upheaval across the world, as nations returned to violent means as a method of the annexation of territory and people, a principle the world had thought was dismantled after the Second World War. As I said nearly two years ago, I shall repeat as I wish to cast reflection upon our role as a country across the global community with these matters in mind. Should we wallow in isolation, or should we stand for what is right?

When I stood at the Despatch box as Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary, or any other role, I spoke of the need for active foreign policy. Speaker, these are not just words or slogans, active foreign policy requires the United Kingdom to recognise its own duty as the mother of parliaments to defend, protect, and promote democracy and human rights internationally. It is part of this task that I present the Protected Sovereign States and Territories Bill to the parliament again, reflective of what we have witnessed over the past few years, to bring the needed legislative changes required to ensure an active foreign policy is at the forefront of the mind of the government of the day.

The Protected Sovereign States and Territories Bill is fundamentally about ensuring the recognition of vulnerable nations, whose existence is at risk of extinction due to potential conflict or collapse, continues regardless of the government of the day. This legislation would prevent a government from unilaterally revoking the recognition of the nations within Schedule 1, and the ownership of the territories within Schedule 2. As an example, I will highlight Kosovo as a nation that should be uplifted to protected independence recognition status. Kosovo is a relatively new nation, whose Declaration of Independence was recognised by our nation on the 18th of February 2008. Kosovo’s very existence as a sovereign nation is under threat each day, as an active campaign continues attempting to undermine its recognition and sovereignty. This legislation ensures that parliament’s will to stand with the people of Kosovo in recognising their independence is protected, away from the unilateral statement of a rogue foreign minister.

To alleviate any concerns, I will address some matters raised within previous debates on this topic. This legislation will not prevent the future recognition of new nations, his Majesty’s government retains this power to ensure our nation may quickly respond to fast moving scenarios. This legislation will not require conflict as an automatic means of resolution, all that is required by this legislation is for something to be done, diplomatic support covers this sufficiently. This legislation will not cripple the Government's ability to conduct foreign affairs and policy, the Minister retains a large variety of powers even on matters subject to this act to ensure the flexibility of our nation's foreign policy is preserved, whilst protecting the recognition of vulnerable nations.

With all of this in mind, and what we have witnessed over the past few years in our hearts, I urge all members to see the good that this legislation will bring, to stand with these vulnerable nations, and vote yes to this legislation.

This division will end on Friday 27th October at 10pm BST.