“The
considerations that international law is without a court for its enforcement,
and that obedience to its commands practically depends upon good faith, instead
of upon the mandate of a superior tribunal, only give additional sanction to
the law itself and brand any deliberate infraction of it not merely as a wrong
but as a disgrace.”[1]
- President Grover Cleveland
I.
Introduction
Compliance
is an essential element of international law. Theories of states compliance with international law not only facilitate
in explaining the trend towards law as a positive phenomenon, but they also
provide for an vital empirical ground for testing the value of interdisciplinary
work and policies for the regulation of organizations and contracts. If States
had no incentive to adhere to international norms and
standards, international legal regimes and institutions would have no purpose
and perhaps the concept of international law would have existed only on paper.
Although a great deal has been written on the
validity of international law and its effect on sovereign states, a suitable
theory of adherence to it has not ye been developed.[2]