Soft Law

Abstract

Soft law is a category of law that is not enforced by public authorities. Rather, it is type of norms or principles that are an expression of what is generally accepted among parties to whom it applies. As such, it is intended to influence the conduct of parties rather than force parties into certain types of behaviors that comply with the rules (Cini 2000). The term "soft law" covers a wide range of instruments that have different focuses. As a result, it is difficult to formulate a comprehensive, coherent set of criteria to include an instrument in the category of soft law. Soft law includes rules, principles, norms, and prescriptions and can be found in contracts, resolutions, recommendations, codes of conduct, and whole host of other instruments such as standards and guide (Boyle 1999; Weeks 2016; Sheehy 2019). In summary, soft law can be defined as "normative provisions contained in non-binding texts" (Shelton 2000).