The Challenge of Soft Law: Development and Change in International Law

THERE is a wide diversity in the instruments of so-called soft law which makes the generic term a misleading simplification.' Even a cursory examination of these diverse instruments inevitably exposes their many variables in form, language, subject matter, participants, addressees, purposes, follow-up and monitoring procedures. These variables, coupled with the inherent contradictions in any concept of soft law, highlight the challenges presented to the structure and substance of the traditional international legal order by the increasing use of soft law forms.