Sovereign States which originally were the sole actors in international society, in the course of the humanization of international law have been submitted to some commitments which are mostly of human rights nature. Such development faded out the role of sovereign States. This submission has been formed because of several factors. At the top of these factors emergence and development of human rights instruments is of high significance. On the other hand, application of these instruments and therein norms requires sovereign power which is essential for the execution of these instruments.
This article focuses on this point and tried to answer this question that to what extent the human rights instruments have decreased the absolute sovereignty of States and on the other hand how and to what degree the existence and continuation of the power of States contribute to the realization of human rights norms.
Stating the point that the human rights instruments could decrease the power of States, this article deals with the contribution of sovereignty to emergence and continuation and sanction of human rights norms.