William Phelan

William Phelan is associate professor of political science at Trinity College Dublin.

His research focuses on international organization, the politics of international law, and the European Court of Justice. His work has been published in International Studies Review, International Theory, European Law Journal, Journal of European Public Policy, European Law Review, Irish Journal of European Law, International Journal of Constitutional Law, and Journal of Common Market Studies.

Phelan's book "In Place of Inter-State Retaliation: The European Union's Rejection of WTO-style Trade Sanctions and Trade Remedies" offers a new explanation of the role of the European Court of Justice in the European legal order, and was published in 2015 by Oxford University Press. It was awarded the 2016 Brian Farrell Book Prize by the Political Science Association of Ireland.

Phelan's 2019 book "Great Judgments of the European Court of Justice" (Cambridge University Press) offered a new account of the early years of European law, drawing on the speeches and legal writings of French ECJ judge, and President of the Court, Robert Lecourt. It was included (among distinguished and diverse company) in EJIL Editor-in-Chief JHH Weiler's "10 Good Reads" for 2020 in European Journal of International Law 31 (2020), 1201, also at https://www.ejiltalk.org/10-good-reads-part-2/

Phelan's current project is a full biographical study of Robert Lecourt, including his long career in French politics and law both before and after his service as judge of the European Court of Justice.