ABSTRACT
The use of the term success has strong evaluative overtones, it gives the impression of endorsing one outcome rather than another, and easily ends up mixing together normative and explanatory enquiries. The success of legal interventions depends on the type of law being transferred, and on the parties being affected. A crucial role is played by the agencies responsible for implementing the law that must be able to employ positive sanctions as well as other methods of persuasion to ensure compliance. There are different opinions about the general role of time in affecting the success of legal transfers. In discussing legal change in Latin America Dezalay and Garth (2001) suggest that time is needed for a transplant to take effect and that this depends on the process by which a cosmopolitan elite transforms its symbolic capital over the generations. The idea of “success” assumes that law has goals which can be measured.
