Innovation and Effectiveness in Multilateral Treaty Practice: The Role of the Emerging Developmental Model

Thomas F. McInerney, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, University of Cambridge

Abstract

Over the past ten years innovations in the practice of multilateral treaty implementation and compliance in relation to developing countries have altered the landscape for international law. This article surveys these phenomena, which collectively constitute what I term the “Developmental Model for Treaty Implementation”. The chief attribute of the Developmental Model is the unification of concepts from multilateral treaty practice with contemporary approaches to international development assistance. The basis for the the model derives from recent trends in both fields to improve the effectiveness of treaty implementation and development assistance, respectively. The main attributes of the Developmental Model include the application of concepts developed through New Public Management and management systems approaches to regulation to the implementation and compliance with international law. Among the innovations these changes have initiated is the process of using strategic and management planning to determine government priorities, including in relation to treaty implementation. Another innovation involves public sector financial management reform, whereby all government expenditures including funds received from international donors are placed within national budgets. These planning tools are then used to derive medium-term and annual budgets that prioritize from among the strategic goals the governments or units of governments adopt and thereby determine which elements of the plans will be acted upon. While donor funds supplement or support some of the budget items, states’ resources determine the balance of budgets. The last section of the article analyzes some of the implications of this model for multilateral treaty practice and development. One of the key implications relates to the prioritization that occurs through the strategic planning and budgeting processes. This process constitutes a challenge to the traditional assumption that states must fulfill their treaty obligations immediately and reflects a recognition that many treaty obligations can only be achieved progressively. This understanding suggests that some portion of noncompliance with treaty obligations among developing countries can be attributed to a lack of resources rather than perfidy, duplicity, or bad faith. The article concludes by suggesting that methodologies used for developing budgets relating to gender equity and the right to food help illustrate the possibilities for developing tools to enable budgeting in respect of treaty obligations in other areas.