摘要:
The aim of this paper was to analyze the role of soft law for the conservation of marine biodiversity. As discussed throughout the paper, soft law, through its multiple roles 347, is able to complement, supplement, anticipate and stimulate hard law. 348 In particular, both soft law and hard law show an important complementarity 349, which permits to fill in gaps and to have the best efficiency possible. Despite this fundamental complementarity, it is important to present the main points of comparison between soft law and hard law, in order to underline the specific characters and advantages of soft law. In general, soft law permits the adoption of more easily applicable provisions, due both to the easier method for states to agree upon 350 and due to the possible direct implementation at the national level 351. Additionally, soft law offers more flexibility, as it is more adaptable to changes, e. g. evolving knowledge 352, and is more suited for urgent matters 353. These elements make soft law more dynamic and makes it more favorable to answer to the "complexity and high level of uncertainty" 354 present in fisheries management, but also in general within international law, as zones where human activities occur are in need of proactive measures 355, before damages appear (i. e. to avoid what happened to coastal areas where conservation measures were not sufficient 356 ). As every legal concept, soft law does not solely have advantages, as shortcomings and/ or negative outcomes outside its scope of action makes its full implementation in the legal realm difficult. First, an element counterbalances the flexibility of soft law, which is the lack of sanctions in case of non-compliance 357, making soft law quite highly dependent on the political will 358 of states. However several elements nuance this last phenomenon, such as the different types of soft law instruments, making some more difficult not to comply with, and bringing soft law compliance system closer to the h