2.3.1  Enforcement of International Law

International treaties, conventions and protocols may be enforced before the International Court of Justice. In UK law, treaties cannot be directly enforceable without passing legislation to give it internal legal power. This some lawyers regard this as soft law, although others view the fact that even this type of law can be integrated into the legal system of a nation and become implemented and is therefore of some importance. The usefulness of soft law can be attributed to the fact that it is flexible in addressing environmental problems-read Birnie & Boyle pp26-30.