Compliance Mechanism

Procedure for dealing with questions about, allegations of, or actual non-compliance. (Handbook, p. 117)

As a complement to verification requirements, many arms limitation agreements provide for conflict resolution mechanisms. Typically these specify procedures for mediating disputes arising from the verification of parties’ compliance, and take the form of some sort of deliberative forum such as for instance a consultative commission. Consultative commissions allow parties to express and explore concerns about the implementation or the need for amendment of accord provisions, and to seek to address these jointly on the basis of common understanding. In some cases, consultative commissions are supplemented or substituted by procedures for referring disputes for mediation to an a priori designated international body such as the United Nations Security Council. (Lexicon, p. 10)