IUS IUVENTUTIS

I will focus on the advantages of soft law in order to understand the reason why it became such an important tool in international law in the recent decades. Before starting I will define the term soft law. The notion describes international instruments that their makers recognise are not treaties [1] and which are not intended to create legal rights and obligations . [2] The idea is based on the presupposition that we need complementary normative instruments in order to regulate the multi-dimensioned problems of our contemporary world. [3] Firstly, as Anthony Aust puts it, there is a lack of formality with non-binding instruments. As a consequence, while an informal instrument becomes effective on signature or at a fixed date, [4] a treaty can only become effective upon domestic ratification, which can take a long time. [5] For example the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development could achieve universal participation in such a short period of time only due to its characte...