Hard legal commitments are sometimesincorporated directly into the internal law
of participating states; even more frequently international agreements require states
to enact implementing legislation, and sometimes to establish particular implementing
institutions. Domestic litigation then becomes part of the international toolkit.
There may, however, be jurisdictional obstacles to litigation by state claimants. In
those situations,states must engage in the subtle process of identifying, encouraging,
and supporting private litigants who will advance their interests.39 Recent scholarship
analyzesthe strategies that supranational judges pursue to encourage actions by
private litigants and national courts that will strengthen international law.40 National
governments presumably follow parallel strategies. Karen Alter’s article in thisissue
explores the complex strategies pursued by this range of public and private actors in
the highly legalized institutions of the EU