ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the question of whether states may contract out from the enforcement of obligations erga omnes under general international law by concluding special agreements that preclude the intrusion of enforcement mechanisms other than those, and for the reasons, specifically provided under them. It focuses on the relationship between lex specialis and lex generalis enforcement regimes, with particular emphasis placed on the position of self-contained regimes within the general system of international law viewed from two different perspectives. While certain human rights treaties provide adequate enforcement mechanisms to remedy any violation of their provisions, and the European Convention on Human Rights offers one such example, most treaties, especially those in the UN context, lack a compulsory sanctioning or enforcement mechanism. From a general international law standpoint, the violation of obligations deriving from special regimes by way of countermeasures in response to a violation that occurred outside such regimes will be lawful.
