How effective are dispute settlement procedures in international law?

Abstract

An International dispute procedure is deemed to be a process of resolving disputes between all parties involved. Dispute settlement to this effect plays a fundamental role in concerning a state’s legal order and ability of said state to initially resolve disputes through what are known as ‘dispute procedures’, in a peaceful manner. States, before such mechanisms, used to solve disputes between each other. This would enable both parties involved to negotiate on their terms whilst keeping their best interest at mind rather than having a third-party judicial body deciding for them. Nowadays, such disputes have become complex legal issues whereby parties are not able to decide the dispute between themselves and thus would require assistance using the International dispute procedures. The procedures mainly now consist of judicial settlements and arbitration between parties. In times of dispute, states must have the desire to try and reach an agreement between themselves. States cannot have unreasonable negotiation techniques in order to try and drag the dispute as much as possible. This is where the dispute settlement procedures step in. However, how effective are these dispute procedures? This study will first and foremost analyze all the dispute mechanisms which are available in International law in order to try and reach a peaceful agreement. Article 33 of the Charter of the United nations provides a number of ways as to how disputes may be settled which range from mediation and negotiation to that of judicial settlement if the issue cannot be resolved bilaterally. The second part of this study will focus on the effectiveness of such mechanisms pertaining to any difficulties which may arise. Moreover, this study will also evaluate the weaknesses of such mechanisms whilst mentioning any difficulties which may arise in the process. The last part of this study will try to observe improvements to such disputes that need to be made in order to further enhance the mechanisms. With such improvement states can make use of these procedures knowing that their rights and sovereignty is still intact and the decisions given by settlement will not be disproportional. This will also give the ability for states to rely further on these mechanisms rather than putting them off due to the perceived, ineffectiveness of such mechanisms available to date.