Assemblies of Parties to Multilateral Treaties and Their Normative Authority

Assemblies of states parties to multilateral treaties are of a twofold nature: those that are active, entrepreneurial, and rally both the political and financial dimensions as well as the stakeholders of their underlying constitutive instrument and those that are content to merely serve as meeting mechanisms. Several assemblies have undertaken extensive funding campaigns, without which their mandate could not have been achieved. In turn, these progressive assemblies have made significant inroads in respect to transnational contracting and forging their limited international personality in such a way as to become credible entities in international relations. This model should be replicated in multilateral human rights treaties.

This Article suggests the emergence of international political normativity, whereby the functions of assemblies reflect normative outcomes despite the absence of normative powers. The moralistic underpinnings of the assemblies’ functions have allowed them to adopt a range of measures that are susceptible to unopposed compliance. The Article demonstrates that not all assemblies venture or desire to undertake actions on the basis of international political normativity and are just as happy to serve as mere facilitators. This is the case of the assembly of the Disabilities Convention.