Commitment and Compliance is the first book to evaluate the impact of state behaviour of international norms adopted in forms that are not legally binding. The use of such `soft law' has increased dramatically with the proliferation of international organizations. Whether and how such norms can be used effectively to supplement or substitute for legally binding obligations forms the heart of this discussion. In the study, a project of the American Society of International Law, the authors look at four subject areas in international law: human rights, environment, arms control, and trade and finance, assessing the use of non-binding norms in each field and whether such norms engender state compliance with them. The discussion also generally addresses the nature of international law and the role on non-binding norms in the international legal system.

Commitment and Compliance is an impressive collection of studies ... surely the most significant contribution so far to the literature on the soft-law phenomenon and the associated problem of compliance with nonbinding instruments. Expertly edited by Dinah Shelton, this substantial work draws upon no less than twenty-seven authors and co-authors ... [the] result is a work unusually rich in conceptual insight and empirical range: cross-disciplinary, multisectoral, and transgenerational ... the ASIL is to be congratulated for bringing together such a stellar panel of scholars for this significant venture. * The American Journal of International Law, July 2001 *

Dinah Shelton is professor of international law at the University of Notre Dame Law School. She is director of the doctoral program at the Universitys Center for Civil and Human Rights and a Fellow of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies.