ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 defines ‘compliance’ in terms of the purpose of the book. It touches on the question of compliance from different angles, referring to relevant scholarship in the field. It deals with issues such as negotiations; assessment of domestic capabilities for implementation; a review of the impact and effectiveness of IEL instruments, and the availability of compliance mechanisms after an MEA comes into effect; and the enforcement of IEL provisions, including dispute settlement provisions. In examining compliance, the chapter investigates the legal divide between the global North and the global South, and the differential approaches taken by their legal traditions to IEL. This chapter also addresses questions relating to implementation, including an indication of the variety of possible national measures.
