Compliance with Judicial Decisions

Abstract

Abstract This chapter begins from the premise that compliance with judicial decisions is both an outcome as well as a process. It contends that theoretical and empirical models of compliance with judicial decisions should incorporate three factors: the capacity for compliance provided by (domestic) institutions; agency and political commitment for compliance generated by key stakeholders; and the nature of the judicial decisions themselves. The chapter begins by offering a brief historiography of the concept of compliance and then turns to a discussion of the role that institutional capacity plays in facilitating compliance. The chapter argues, however, that institutional capacity alone is insufficient. Advocates for compliance must push to ensure that the responsibility for compliance is delegated to the appropriate public authorities. The chapter then discusses the role that the judicial decisions themselves play, building on this groundwork by suggesting two emerging research agendas on compliance: systematic non-compliance and the incorporation of time into models of compliance.