This essay examines, first, the reasons for the extraordinary impact and iconic status which attached to Van Gend en Loos. It argues that the explanation lies in a confluence of structural factors and not in the "direct effect" doctrine simpliciter. It then looks at the … [Read more...]

WTO law does not require its direct effect in domestic legal orders. Whilst the stances taken in these are diverse, showing that direct effect is not denied on the whole to WTO law, all the major trading members of the WTO deny it. The fact that, in a case where a WTO member does … [Read more...]

Upon conceiving constitutionalism on the scale of the nation-state as transparent and unproblematic, one may think global constitutionalism to be a mere utopia. On closer analysis, however, legitimation of nation-state constitutionalism turns out to be much more complex and … [Read more...]

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This article assesses how, 50 years after the ECJ delivered its judgment in Van Gend and Loos (VGL), the doctrine of direct effect of international law has fared outside the European Union. While obviously the core of VGL (that is, that it is EU law, not national law, which … [Read more...]