A federacy is a form of government where one or several substate units enjoy considerably more independence than the majority of the substate units. To some extent, such an arrangement can be considered to be similar to asymmetric federalism.
Description A federacy is a form of government with features of both a federation and unitary state. In a federacy, at least one of the constituent parts of the state is autonomous, while the other constituent parts are either not autonomous or comparatively less autonomous. An example of such an arrangement is Finland, where Åland, which has the status of autonomous province, has considerably more autonomy than the other provinces. The autonomous constituent part enjoys a degree of independence as though it was part of federation, while the other constituent parts are as independent as subunits in a unitary state. This autonomy is guaranteed in the country's constitution. The autonomous subunits are often former colonial possessions or are home to a different ethnic group from the rest of the country. These autonomous subunits often have a special status in international relations.
Federacies
Several states are federacies. The exact autonomy of the subunits differs from country to country.
Antigua and Barbuda
Barbuda is autonomous within Antigua and Barbuda.
Australia and Norfolk Island Norfolk Island self-government was revoked by the Australian Federal Government in 2015. Its laws were subsumed into the laws of the Australian federal government and be subordinate to them. On 1 July 2016, the federal government increased federal regulations so that federal laws would also apply to Norfolk Island and to make it semi-autonomous. Since then, opposition by several organizations have protested these actions to the United Nations to include the island on its list of "non-self-governing territories".
Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan Nakhchivan is an autonomous part of Azerbaijan.
China, Hong Kong and Macau
From 1997 to 2020, the relationship between China and the special administrative region of Hong Kong can be viewed as a federacy. This is no longer the case after the passage of the 2020 Hong Kong national security law. The same can be said of China's relationship with the special administrative region of Macau from 1999 to 2009, when the Macau National Security Law was enacted.
The Hong Kong Basic Law guarantees Hong Kong a high degree of autonomy under Chinese rule, with the exception of foreign affairs and defence which remains the purview of the Central People's Government.
Four agencies of the central government operate in Hong Kong. The Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was established under Article 13 of the Basic Law and began operating after the handover. The Liaison Office of the Central People's Government replaced in 2000 the Hong Kong branch of Xinhua News Agency, which served as the de facto diplomatic mission of China to Hong Kong since 1947. The Hong Kong Garrison of the People's Liberation Army began operating after the handover. The Office for Safeguarding National Security was established in June 2020 under the Hong Kong National Security Law.
Article 22 states that "no department of the Central People's Government and no province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government may interfere in the affairs which the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region administers on its own in accordance with this Law".
In April 2020, the provision sparked a debate after the Liaison Office and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office criticised pro-democratic legislators for delaying the election of the chairperson of the Legislative Council House Committee. Pro-democratic legislators said the offices violated Article 22 by commenting on the election of a chairperson in the local legislature. In response, the Liaison Office said both itself and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office are not subject to Article 22 because they were authorised by central authorities to specialize in handling Hong Kong affairs and not what are commonly meant by "departments under the Central People’s Government"..
Zhang Xiaoming has also said the Office of the National Security Commissioner is not subject to the restrictions in Article 22.
Except the Basic Law and the Constitution, national laws are not enforced in Hong Kong unless they are listed in Annex III and applied by local promulgation or legislation. When national laws are enacted locally by the Legislative Council, the local version adapts to the context of Hong Kong for the national law to have full effect. The NPCSC can amend legislation included in Annex III after consulting its Basic Law Committee and the Hong Kong government. Laws in Annex III must be those related to foreign affairs, national defence or matters not within Hong Kong's autonomy.
As of June 2020, Annex III includes laws on the designation of capital, national flag and anthem, territorial claims, nationality, diplomatic privileges and immunity, garrisoning of the People's Liberation Army and crimes involving national security. In May 2020, the National People's Congress announced that the NPCSC would enact a national security law tailored for Hong Kong in response to the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests. The law was added to Annex III and promulgated without being passed in the Legislative Council.
National laws can be applied if they only affect an area in Hong Kong. In 2018, the Hong Kong West Kowloon station of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link was completed to include a section where mainland Chinese officials are allowed to exercise Chinese laws, an arrangement that intended to reduce the time needed for immigration. The effectiveness of Chinese law inside Hong Kong territory was challenged in the same year in the Court of First Instance. The court ruled that the Basic Law is a flexible constitution and as such can be interpreted for the needs of economic integration; the arrangement of having mainland Chinese laws in Hong Kong for the purposes of customs, immigration and quarantine does not contravene the "one country, two systems" principle.
Hong Kong Basic Law Article 23 requires Hong Kong to enact local national security laws that prohibit treason, secession, sedition, subversion against the central government, theft of state secrets and foreign organisations from conducting political activities in Hong Kong. In 2003, the Hong Kong government tabled the National Security (Legislative Provisions) Bill 2003, which triggered widespread protest. The proposed legislation gave more power to the police, such as not requiring a search warrant to search the home of a suspected terrorist. After the demonstrations and the withdrawal by the Liberal Party of their support for the bill, the government shelved the bill indefinitely.
In 2024, the Hong Kong enacted the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance to implement Article 23. The bill includes five areas of national security crimes: treason, insurrection and incitement to mutiny, theft of state secrets and espionage, sabotage, and external interference.
Fiji and Rotuma
Rotuma has the status of dependency in Fiji.
Finland and Åland The archipelago of Åland is a region of Finland, but compared to the other regions, it enjoys a high degree of home rule. Extensive autonomy was granted to it in the Act on the Autonomy of Åland of 1920 (last revised 1991), and the autonomy was affirmed by a League of Nations decision in 1921. The Parliament of Åland (Lagtinget) handles duties that in other provinces are exercised by state provincial offices of the central government. Åland sends one representative to the Finnish parliament, and is a member of the Nordic Council (independently of Finland). It is demilitarised, and the population is exempt from conscription. Åland has issued its own postage stamps since 1984, and runs its own police force. Most of Åland's inhabitants speak Swedish as their first language (91.2% in 2007). Åland's autonomous status was a result of disputes between Sweden and Imperial Russia in 1809, and between Finland and Sweden 1917–1921.
France and its overseas lands Most of the French Republic is divided into 18 régions: 13 are in metropolitan France (Corsica, one of these, is strictly speaking not a , but is often counted as such) and 5 are (overseas regions). Not included in any région are five collectivités d'outre-mer, one territoire d'outre-mer, one collectivité sui generis and remote Clipperton Island (which is state private property under direct authority of the Minister of Overseas France). All are integral parts of France and subject to French law, but New Caledonia (the ) and French Polynesia (one of the five , but designated a pays d'outre-mer) have considerably more autonomy. All except the uninhabited French Southern and Antarctic Lands (the territoire d'outre-mer) and Clipperton Island are represented in the French parliament. Defence and diplomatic affairs are responsibilities of France, but some overseas parts do participate in some international organisations directly. (Réunion, for example, is a member of the Indian Ocean Commission.) The French overseas territories were in the past colonial possessions.
Iraq and Kurdistan
Kurdistan Region of Iraq has de jure full sovereignty over internal matters. The agreement was upheld in the country's 2005 constitution.
Kashmir and India/Pakistan After independence from British rule, princely states of the Indian Empire during the British Colonial Era were given the choice to opt for either to the new Dominions of India or Pakistan. The Kashmir state was ruled by a Hindu king Maharaja Hari Singh but the majority of its population was Muslim. According to Burton Stein's History of India, "Kashmir was neither as large nor as old an independent state as Hyderabad; it had been created rather off-handedly by the British after the first defeat of the Sikhs in 1846, as a reward to a former official who had sided with the British. The Himalayan kingdom was connected to India through a district of the Punjab, but its population was 77 per cent Muslim and it shared a boundary with Pakistan. Hence, it was anticipated that the maharaja would accede to Pakistan when the British paramountcy ended on 14–15 August. When he hesitated to do this, Pathan tribesman launched a guerrilla onslaught meant to sway its ruler into their favour and became fugitive leader. Instead the Maharaja appealed to MountbattenViscount Louis Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of British India, stayed on in independent India from 1947 to 1948, serving as the first Governor-General of the Union of India. for assistance, and the governor-general agreed on the condition that the ruler accede to India. Indian soldiers entered Kashmir and drove the Pakistani-sponsored irregulars from all but a small section of the state. The United Nations was then invited to mediate the quarrel. The UN mission insisted that the opinion of Kashmiris must be ascertained, while India insisted that no referendum could occur until all of the state had been cleared of irregulars."Stein, Burton. 2010. A History of India. Oxford University Press. 432 pages. . Page 358.
Currently, the region is divided amongst three countries in a territorial dispute: Pakistan controls the northwest portion (Gilgit–Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir), India controls the central and southern portion (Jammu and Kashmir) and Ladakh, and the People's Republic of China controls the northeastern portion (Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract). India controls the majority of the Siachen Glacier area including the Saltoro Ridge passes, whilst Pakistan controls the lower territory just southwest of the Saltoro Ridge. India controls of the disputed territory; Pakistan ; and the PRC, the remaining .
Mauritius and Rodrigues