The Baltic Yearbook of International Law joined the family of legal publications in 2001. It is an annual publication containing contributions on topical issues in international law and related fields that are relevant to Baltic affairs and beyond. Each Yearbook focuses on a theme with particular importance to the development of international law. The Yearbook serves as an important source of information not available elsewhere on the practices of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in international law.
Despite a clear Baltic ownership, the Yearbook aims at contributing to the development of thought, standard-setting and relevant practices throughout the world. The topical coverage has included the questions surrounding the claims of the Baltic States to their State continuity in international law; related issues of State responsibility; various challenges in international human rights law with focus on bioethics and human rights; and the enlargement of the European Union.
The Baltic Editorial Board consists of Judges at international courts Levits, Vadapalas and Ziemele; Judges of highest national courts Bieliunas and Krūma; recognized academics Kerikmäe Müllerson, Mälksoo and Žalimas, and a staff member of the European Commission Zilgalvis. The Editorial Board can always rely on an international Advisory Board of the yearbook.
Submissions to the Baltic Yearbook of International Law
Articles can be submitted throughout the whole year. The final deadline for the submission if the author aspires to be published in the volume of the year of the submission is: 15 December.
The articles should be submitted in accordance with the Raoul Wallenberg Institute Journal Style Guidelines
Article submissions should be addressed to Timothy Maldoon, Publications Officer, at timothy.maldoon@rwi.lu.se or on disc via post to Raoul Wallenberg Institute, P.O.Box 1155, 221 05 Lund, Sweden.
Book reviews submissions should be addressed to the book review editor Dainius Žalimas at DainiusZ@pastas.kam.lt.
Volumes of the Baltic Yearbook of International Law
- Volume 9, 2009
- Volume 8, 2008
- Volume 7, 2007
- Volume 6, 2006
- Volume 5, 2005
- Volume 4, 2004
- Volume 3, 2003
- Volume 2, 2002
- Volume 1, 2001
Volume 6 of the Baltic Yearbook of International Law
On 13 – 15 May 2004 the Inaugural Conference of the European Society of International Law took place in Florence, Italy. It brought together international lawyers from various parts of Europe and the world with an aim to discuss “International Law in Europe: Between Traditional and Renewal”.
The conference involved participants from 29 different states of Europe, including almost thirty participants from those states which acceded to the EU only two weeks before the Conference such as Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Slovenia. Others came from Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Romania, the Russian Federation, and the former Yugoslavia. Less than 15% of the total number of participants came from outside Europe with the United States, Australia, Canada, Israel, Brazil and Japan sending the largest contingents.
The conference consisted of keynote speeches, fora and agorae panels. The panelists at the conference also reflected a significant diversity in terms of nationalities. The largest number of speakers came from France (9) and the United Kingdom (6). Countries which were represented by between 2-4 panelists were: Austria, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands, Hungary, Romania and the United States.
The panelists and the audience debated and represented from different angles Europe which has always been at the centre of international law, even if its legacy has been mixed. Some theorists have long written glowingly about the ‘European tradition in international law’, and highlighted the unique contributions which it has made to the field. Europe’s critics have derided it for its aspirations to universality in this area partly on the grounds that it’s focus has been quintessentially European and not universal, and partly that it has all too often been motivated by its own self interest. But whatever the perspective, the historical contribution has been great. European theorists have been central to the evolution of the discipline, and promotion of an international rule of law continues to feature prominently in much of Europe’s foreign policy.
Volume 6 of the Baltic Yearbook of International Law in co-operation with the European Society of International Law publishes keynote speeches by professors Alain Pellet and Michael Reismann and selected papares of the panelists. The ESIL therefore continues its tradition of bringing together and reaching into different corners of Europe the debate on international law. The Baltic Yearbook is honoured to publish the historical proceedings in Florence where the European Society of International Law was founded.