Ensuring Compliance

To date, concerns about non-compliance with the treaty have for the most part been handled successfully albeit in an uncoordinated, unplanned fashion. States Parties have relied heavily on nongovernmental actors and on the willingness of some individual States Parties, and often individual diplomats, to take action.

The ICBL has stated on numerous occasions that this ad hoc approach is not enough to handle all compliance cases and we believe a more systematic approach is required to address ongoing issues and help prevent new ones.

What compliance provisions say
Article 8 of the Mine Ban Treaty contains a multistage system of verification procedures including fact-finding missions to investigate potential violations. While this could be seen as both a comprehensive and reasonable method to clarify contentious issues, it seems to be viewed rather as an accusatory and intrusive approach. Therefore there has so far been quite serious reluctance to operationalize Article 8.

National implementation measures are no panacea
Given the aversion to Article 8, States Parties have stressed that Article 9 should be the primary compliance provision because it rightfully places on individual states the responsibility to prevent and suppress prohibited acts. This approach, however, is only viable if the state itself is not violating the treaty! In addition, it cannot be counted on to deal effectively with all non-compliance concerns considering only one-third of the States Parties have actually put national implementation measures into place.

Possible solutions
Practical steps must be taken to prepare the implementation of Article 8 should the need arise to invoke it. In addition, informal mechanisms or an informal body should be developed to ensure compliance concerns are addressed in a systematic and coordinated fashion. Creative solutions could involve assigning responsibility for initiating information-gathering or discussions on compliance cases to past and present Presidents of the Meetings of States Parties, or co-chairs of the Standing Committee on the General Status and Operation of the Convention, some variation of the Contact Group model or another innovative approach.