Andreas Zimmermann (University of Kiel – Walter Schücking Institut) has posted Is it Really All About Commitment and Diffusion? – Why Do States Incorporate International Law in Their Domestic Constitutions? (University of Illinois Law Review, No. 1, 2008) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
The comment discusses the reasons for implementing international law obligations (of a customary or conventional character). The paper argues that any such implementation may not be explained (or, if ever, only partially) by the idea of pre-commitment. Rather, States have a genuine interest in the sta-bility of the international legal system and their own adherence to rules of international law, the incor-poration of which serves to avoid, as far as possible, committing violations of international law by rendering such violations unconstitutional or at least illegal under domestic law.