Sovereign Military Order of Malta (sovereignty without territory)

Background

The Order began as a hospital brotherhood serving pilgrims in Jerusalem in the eleventh century and was recognised by Pope Paschal II in the bull Pie postulatio voluntatis of 15 February 1113. It became a military order in the crusader states, then ruled Rhodes from 1310 until the Ottoman conquest of the 1520s, and Malta from 1530 until Napoleon took the island in 1798. After decades of wandering, the Order settled in Rome in 1834. Since then it has had no territory of its own, but it has kept, and been recognised by many states as having, an international legal personality.

How it is governed

• A religious order and a sovereign entity. The Order is a lay religious

order of the Catholic Church and, at the same time, claims sovereignty under international law. Its constitution reflects both: a new Constitutional Charter and Code was promulgated by Pope Francis on 3 September 2022 after a period of crisis.

• Grand Master. The head of the Order, elected for a term of ten years by

a Council Complete of State, must be a professed knight (a member who has taken religious vows). Fra' John Dunlap was elected on 3 May 2023.

• Government bodies. A Sovereign Council governs with the Grand Master;

a Chapter General represents the membership; there is a Government Council, a Board of Auditors and magistral courts.

• Members. About 13,500 members are organised in grand priories and

national associations; only a small number are professed religious.

• Seat. The Magistral Palace in Via Condotti and the Magistral Villa on

the Aventine in Rome enjoy extraterritoriality recognised by Italy. The Order also has an agreement with Malta for the use of part of Fort St Angelo.

Economy and public goods

The Order's public goods are humanitarian rather than territorial. Through national associations, volunteer corps and its relief agency, Malteser International, it runs hospitals, ambulance services, clinics, care homes and emergency relief in more than a hundred countries, with tens of thousands of staff and volunteers. It is funded by members' donations, public grants (especially in Germany and other countries where its associations act as contracted service providers), and private fundraising. Its diplomatic network is used to negotiate humanitarian access and to support work in conflict zones.

Conflict and disputes

• Is it a state? The Order has diplomatic relations with 118 states and

the European Union and has been a permanent observer at the UN General Assembly since 1994; it issues passports to some officials, stamps and coins. Karski notes that it is universally regarded as a subject of international law, with the right of legation and treaty-making, but argues that it is only a secondary, not a sovereign, subject: as a Catholic religious order whose Grand Master is subordinate to the Pope, it cannot be independent of every external power.

• Relations with the Holy See. The 2016-2017 dispute over the dismissal

of the Grand Chancellor, Albrecht von Boeselager, ended with Pope Francis requiring the Grand Master, Matthew Festing, to resign. The Holy See then supervised a constitutional reform, and the 2022 Charter was imposed by papal decree, which critics within the Order saw as limiting its sovereignty.

• Imitators. Numerous self-styled "orders of St John" claim the same

heritage; the Order guards its name and status against them.

Outcomes

The Order has kept a recognised international personality for over two centuries without territory, by combining continuous institutions, religious legitimacy, recognised extraterritorial premises in Rome and a large humanitarian network that gives states reasons to deal with it. Its sovereignty is functional and depends on recognition by others and on its relationship with the Holy See.

Lessons for institution design

• Recognition can substitute for territory when an entity provides valued

services and maintains continuous institutions.

• Functional sovereignty (diplomacy for humanitarian access) is narrower

than statehood but durable.

• Dual allegiance to a religious authority can override internal

self-government in a crisis.

• Non-territorial polities today, including network-state proposals, face

the same tests: recognition, continuity, membership rules and a reason for others to engage.

Further reading

• Order of Malta: diplomatic activities
• Order of Malta: government
• Karski, The International Legal Status of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order (2012)