The Holy See and the Vatican City. Remarks on the Homogeneous Subjectivity under International Law

Abstract

To this day, the international status of the Holy See and the Vatican City-State has been raising doubts in the international legal sphere. This is due to the fact that, in the considered case, the subjectivity under public international law is of a special nature because of the absence of all key attributes of such subjectivity. The authors contribute to the discussion now held in the doctrine of international public law by highlighting arguments that in this situation we are confronted with the same entity operating on the international arena, either as the Holy See or as the Vatican City. Therefore, the Holy See is not an entity that is external to the Vatican. On the other hand, its small area and population do not make the geopolitical entity of the Vatican City a normal state within the meaning of international law and a legal entity separate from the Holy See.