The Application of the Principle of State Sovereignity and Non-intervention in the Cyberpce

In the recent years there were a hot debates about application of the princi-
ple of state sovereignty in cyberspace. States have repeatedly reaffirmed that the principle
of sovereignty applies in cyberspace, and in particular that “in their use of ICTs, States
mu st observe, am ong other principles of international law, State sovereignty, sovereign
equality”. There are two main questions: 1) whether a general obligation to respect the
sovereignty of other States exists, the violation of which could in itself constit ute an intra-
na tional wrongful act; 2) what are criterions for a cyberoperation to be qualified as un-
lawful and a violation of sovereignty? Non intervention is a fundamental principle of in-
ternational law because it emanates from the principl e of state sove reignty and pr otects
certain essential aspects of this principle. More specifically, it protects the integrity and
autonomy of a state’s authority and will in the sense of its capacity to internal and exter nal
self governance. As it was conf irmed by the In ternational Co urt of Justice in judgement
from June 27 of 1986 (Nicaragua vs. United States of America, § 205) intervention is
traditionally understood as coercive interference in matters that fall within a state’s sov-
ereign affairs such as the choice of political, econ omic, social and cultural system and the
formulation of foreign policy. In order now to determine when interference in that process
constitutes intervention, the baseline of coercion needs to be identified. In modern w orld
such interference could consist o f cyber attacks on electoral infrastructure and operations
to manipulate voting behaviour. Probably, the first example was Russia’s electoral inter-
ference in the 2016 US election.