Sustainable Tourism Law

THE BINDING FORCE OF LEGISLATIVE INSTRUMENTS 173 II. LEGISLATIVE TECHNIQUE USE IN THE MATTER OF SUSTAINABLE TOURISM Sustainable Development Goals have been regulated in most cases by non- -binding legislative instruments such as Declarations, Charters and Agendas, which are all part of the Soft Law legislative technique. The concept of Soft Law is a complex term whose meaning is not univocal. But it usually adheres to the following elements 1 : a) It is not a source of International Law (Article 38 of the 38th Statute of the International Court of Justice, ICJ). Traditionally it has been considered that the art. 38 of the 38th Statute of the International Court of Justice, is the regulatory precept of the sources of International Law 2 . So, this article’s description of the law to be applied by the ICJ when deciding cases within its jurisdiction is generally considered to be the most authoritative enumeration of the sources of International Law, according to which: “The Court, whose function is to decide in accordance with international law such disputes as are submitted to it, shall apply: a) International conventions, whether general or particular, establishing rules expressly recognized by the contesting states; b) international custom, as evidence of a general practice accepted as law; c) the general principles of law recognized by civilized nations; d) subject to the provisions of Article 59, [ad.e. that only the parties bound by the decision in any particular case,] judicial decisions and the teachings of the most highly qualified publicists of the various nations, as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of law”. 1 A. MAZUELOS BELLIDO:”Soft Law, ¿Mucho ruido y pocas nueces?”, Revista Electrónica de Estudios Internacionales , num.8, 2004, pp.1-40; M.I. DEL TORO HUERTA: “El fenómeno del Soft Law y las nuevas perspectivas del Derecho Internacional”, Anuario Mejicano de Derecho Internacional , vol. VI, 2006, pp. 513- 549; D. SARMIENTO: “La autoridad del Derecho y la naturaleza del Soft Law”, Cuadernos de Derecho Público , n.º 28, 2006, pp. 221-261. 2 G. ALARCÓN GARCÍA, “El Soft Law y nuestro sistema de fuentes”, en Tratado sobre la Ley General Tributaria , Libro-Homenaje del profesor Alvaro Rodríguez Bereijo, Madrid, 2010, pp-271-298.