Sovereignty and human rights are sometimes understood to be opposed toeach other. However, they are expected to function harmoniously withinthe framework of constitutionalism. At issue is "the critical point"of costitutionalism at which sovereignty and human rights deviate fromthe original roles. Looking at Locke, Grotius and others, this essay findsthat the issue of "the critical point" of constitutionalism wasthe very issue of political theory and international law in the early modernperiod. Then the essay goes on to argue that the issue disappeared in themodern age, as shown by A.V. Dicey and L. Oppenheim in the fields of constitutionallaw and international law in England. It was in the modern age that theright to resistance and the right to intervention disappeared in the mainstreamof law and poiltics. The reason why the issue of "the critical point"of constitutionalism is now important is not because of the collapse ofconstitutionalism itself, but because of a need to revitalize it in a newcontext.