OBLIGATIONS AND COMMITMENTS STEMING FROM INTERNATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
The process to incorporate the obligations of legally binding international instruments - such as international agreements, conventions, or treaties – into the national legislation vary from country to country. In some countries, legally binding international instruments take legal effect as soon as the ratification is completed and announced in the state's official gazette. In other cases, it is necessary to elaborate an implementation law for the international instrument to take effect in the national legislation.
Whatever the specific process followed in a country, often new regulations or revision of existing regulations are needed to materialize the implementation of the obligations through specific
provisions addressed to the subjects of the regulated matter at the time when the obligations take legal effect.
On the other hand, the materialization of the commitments made to support non-binding international instruments – such as codes of conduct – require political decision and action on the side of the national authorities. Depending on the existing legislation and the nature of the commitments, incorporating them into the national legislation may require changes to laws, regulations or simply to administrative procedures or practices.
When possible and convenient, regulations should be drafted in anticipation of making legal or political commitments to have the provisions ready by the time the commitments take legal or political effect, and even before that if the current legislation allows to do so. This may save the country from reviewing already promulgated regulations. Therefore, participants in the School are advised to be well informed about ongoing efforts or future plans of the country towards adopting legally or non-legally binding international commitments to take them in consideration, to the extent possible, when elaborating a new regulation or revising an existing one.
Of particular relevance for the participants in the combined programme of the School is the
Code of conduct on the safety and security of radioactive sources and supplementary
guidance on the import and export of radioactive sources and
guidance on managing disused radioactive sources.
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The Code is a non-legally binding instruments issued by the IAEA aiming at helping national authorities to ensure that radioactive sources are used within an appropriate framework of radiation safety and security of radioactive sources. The supplementary guidance complements the Code with specific provisions aimed, respectively, to exercise an appropriate control over the import and export of radiation sources and over disused sealed radioactive sources. Countries deciding to act in accordance with the Code or with its supplementary guidance may write a letter to the Director General of the IAEA to inform him about the political commitment made. Subsequently, the letter is made available to all IAEA Member States. As of August 2022, 141 Member States have sent letters to the Director General of the IAEA notifying political commitment to the Code, 124 to the Guidance on the Import and Export of Radioactive Sources and 45 to the Guidance on Disused Sources.
