Some Recent Cases Delaying the Direct Effect of International Treaties in Dutch Law

This article is meant as a comment on some recent Dutch cases concerning the effect within the domestic law of the Netherlands of the prohibition of discrimination laid down in Article 7a(i) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and of Article 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The cases were decided by the Centrale Raad van Beroep, which is the Dutch supreme court in some fields of administrative law, such as the law on civil servants and several laws on social security. The cases are particularly interesting with respect to the notion of direct effect.