The Constitutionalization of Private Regulation: Understanding the Role of Private Law 2017 – 2021
This project aims to deepen our understanding of the role private law plays in submitting regulatory activities of private actors to fundamental principles of laws. The project approaches this ‘constitutionalization’ of private regulation by analyzing case law on the civil liability of private regulators. By examining conditions under which these regulators are liable the project aims to reveal how and when private law facilitates the constitutionalization of private regulation and to what extent that role can be improved. To that end, the project engages in a systematic comparative analysis of case law in the legal systems of England, Germany, the Netherlands and European Union. Qualitative (thematic) content analysis of this case law will enable the identification and explanation of patterns in the application of conditions governing the liability of private regulators.
The project is funded under the VENI Innovational Research Incentives Scheme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
Publications within this project
- Private food standards, private law, and EU law (2020) Edward Elgar
- Het PIP-schandaal tien jaar verder (2020, with Barend van Leeuwen) Tijdschrift voor Consumentenrecht en handelspraktijken
- Liability for standards development (2019) Cambridge University Press
- Regulating private regulators (2019) European Review of Private Law
- Over de relatie tussen het privaatrecht en private regelgeving (2019) Weekblad voor Privaatrecht, Notariaat en Registratie
- The liability of notified bodies and the implications of the PIP Breast implants scandal (2018) European Law Review
- Het PIP-schandaal voor het HvJ EU (2017) Nederlands Juristenblad
- Transnational private regulation (2017, with Phillip Paiement) Oxford University Press
- Private standards in commercial contracts (2017) Edward Elgar
Past projects
Enforcing Private Regulation
This project aimed to analyze the mechanisms through which compliance with private regulation is enforced. The foundation of this project was laid by my PhD research (European University Institute, Florence) between 2008-2012, which lead to the publication of the monograph Enforcing Transnational Private Regulation (Edward Elgar 2014). From this research several other publications followed, focusing on the role contract and tort law play in enforcing compliance with private regulatory standards, as well as public regulatory agencies.
Publications within this project
- Aansprakelijkheid wegens gebrekkig overheidstoezicht (2015) Wolters Kluwer
- Toezicht tegen het licht (2015, with T. Havinga and H. de Waele) Wolters Kluwer
- Enforcing Transnational Private Regulation (2014) Edward Elgar
- Regulatory Governance by Contract (2014) Recht der Werkelijkheid
- Gorillas in the Closet? (2013) Regulation & Governance
- Aansprakelijkheid van certificatie-instellingen (2013) Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Burgelijk Recht
- Enforcing Transnational Private Regulation of Advertising Practices (2013) Edward Elgar
- Private Regulation in the European Advertising Industry (2011) HiiL Case Study Report
Media appearance
- De zin van toezicht (2015) BNR Nieuwsradio