Ensuring Compliance With The Basel Convention – Its Unique Features

The Basel Convention on the Control of the Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal was adopted in 1989 in order to protect human health and the environment against the adverse effects that may result from the generation, transboundary movement and unsound management of hazardous wastes. This chapter first examines the Basel Convention regime relating to "systems of reporting and inspection or external monitoring". These systems constitute the foundation of any effective scheme of compliance control, for they provide the factual state of compliance by Parties with treaty obligations. The chapter then briefly outlines the regime's treatment of traditional means of ensuring compliance with international law, namely state responsibility, liability and dispute settlement systems. These systems may be called confrontational means of ensuring compliance with environmental law. Next, the chapter examines in some detail the recently established Basel Compliance Mechanism and attempts to identify its unique features. Keywords: Basel Convention; compliance control; dispute settlement; environmental law; international law; state responsibility