Enforcement mechanisms and their effects on international law

Inhaltsangabe oder Einleitung

In this essay I will explore the status of enforcement mechanisms used in international law and their effect on the overall effectivity of the law, using, principles, treaties, major researches and related jurisprudence.

Effectiveness of law refers to whether the law has changed a state’s behavior from what it would have been in the absence of the law. In order for a law to be effective, parties must agree to comply to it. For this reason, the international committee provides enforcement mechanisms, which are methods used to induce compliance and increase cooperation from international bodies. These enforcement mechanisms fulfil a state's immediate interests. However, despite using these enforcement mechanisms, the international committee currently faces non-compliance and the possible unenforceability of the International Court of Justice as one of the major problems encountered in international law. Why is non-compliance still a major problem in international law if enforcement mechanisms are already in use?