Sui Generis - Politics and Society

Politics and Society

In political philosophy, the unparalleled development of the European Union as compared to other international organizations has led to its designation as a sui generis geopolitical entity. There has been widespread debate over the legal nature of the EU given its mixture of intergovernmental and supranational elements, with the organisation thus possessing some characteristics common to confederal and federal entities.

A similar case which has led to the use of the label sui generis is the unique relationship between France and New Caledonia, since the legal status of New Caledonia can aptly be said to lie "somewhere between an overseas collectivity and a sovereign nation". Whereas there are perhaps other examples of such a status for other disputed or dependent territories, this arrangement is certainly unique within the French Republic.

In local government, a sui generis entity is one which does not fit with the general scheme of local governance of a country. For example in England, the City of London and the Isles of Scilly are the two sui generis localities, as their forms of local government are both very different from those of elsewhere in the country (for historical and geographical reasons). So it is said The City of London and the Isles of Scilly are sui generis authorities, pre-dating recent reforms of local government. In Croatia the Joint Council of Municipalities is to Croatians a sui generis council of municipalities; being formed after international agreement, it has no similar example in the rest of the country. The legal status of the Holy See has been described as a sui generis entity possessing an international personality.