Regime Design Matters: Intentional Oil Pollution and Treaty Compliance

Deepali B Nayak

Abstract

Identify able traits of the regime's compliance procedures determine whether a treaty prompts compliance from states or non-state actors. A need for tanker owners to install specific equipment yielded noticeably greater levels of compliance than a requirement for tanker operators to restrict their discharges under the international framework governing deliberate oil pollution. Since both rules had significant financial penalties for violations and applied to the same nations over the same time period, it is obvious that the differences in compliance between the two sub regimes may be attributable to their unique characteristics. The success of the equipment requirements was due to the creation of an integrated compliance system that increased transparency, offered strong and credible sanctions, reduced implementation costs for governments by leveraging already-existing infrastructures, and prevented violations rather than just deterring them.