Assessing the effectiveness of international courts: A goal-based approach

This article discusses selected social science approaches to organizational effectiveness and explains why a goal-based definition of effectiveness is suitable for evaluating international court performance. The proposed model offers new analytical tools for understanding the goals set for international courts by their mandate providers (the states and international organizations that create and supervise international courts) and for assessing how key concepts relating to the structure, process, and outcomes of international courts-for example, judicial independence, judgment compliance, and judicial legitimacy-contribute to their effectiveness.