The Cambridge International Law Journal (CILJ) is pleased to invite submissions for Volume 12(2) to be published in December 2023 on the theme 'Language in International Law' . This issue builds upon the 12th Annual Cambridge International Law Conference, held on 24 and 25 April 2023, but is open to submissions from all authors including those who are not presenting or participating in the Conference.
Language is essential to international law. International law terms and phrases are regularly invoked to specific ends, extending their operation beyond legal rules to a form of discourse: states initiate military operations using the justifications of ‘genocide’ prevention, ‘humanitarian’ aid, and the ‘responsibility to protect’; claim ‘discrimination’ in trade; and operationalise the language of ‘sovereignty’ to avoid obligations. While the multilingual translation and interpretation of legal texts is essential to the practice of law, exact semantic transposition of concepts is unattainable, and undermines both participation in, and the efficacy of, international law. Language itself is pertinent to the expression of identity and can render groups vulnerable to discrimination and exclusion from the public sphere. Big data has become a new language in international law, heavily relied on in international efforts to prevent crime, and as a basis for regulation. Altogether, language remains the unacknowledged core of international law, relevant not only to treaty interpretation but to the understanding of the discipline and its components as a whole.
The Editorial Board welcomes diverse contributions that focus on one or more areas of private and public international law, or EU law, and should raise issues relevant to the theme Language in International Law. Papers potentially may address, for example, any of the following indicative themes:
- The cooptation of language to achieve legal ends;
- Interpretative methods in international law;
- Global access to international law;
- International legal discourses and the role of the international lawyer;
- Language, identity, discrimination and the protection of minorities; and
- Big data and global governance.
Articles addressing other topics within the theme, or that engage with current themes in international law, are also welcome.
Submission information
Submissions must be received through the online Submittable platform by 11:59 pm (BST) on Friday, 12 May 2023. The Journal accepts the following types of manuscripts:
- Articles between 6,000 and 12,000 words including footnotes;
- Case notes, including substantive analysis, not exceeding 3,000 words including footnotes; and
- Book reviews, not exceeding 2,500 words including footnotes.
Please list the word count of the text and the footnotes on your manuscript. Please ensure that your manuscript does not contain any reference to your personal or professional identity. All copies must be submitted in Word (.doc) or (.docx) format and must conform to our style guidelines, which are available at the following links:
- OSCOLA Fourth edition: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxlaw/oscola_4th_edn_hart_2012.pdf
- OSCOLA: Citing International Law Sources: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxlaw/oscola_2006_citing_international_law.pdf
Submissions must not already be published elsewhere. Submissions that are available online as working papers or discussion papers for which the author retains copyright must be taken down immediately upon acceptance for publication by the CILJ. For full submission instructions for authors, please visit www.elgaronline.com/cilj.
Further information can be obtained from the Editors-in-Chief at editors@cilj.co.uk.
Thank you for your interest in writing for the CILJ Blog. Please complete the form below and upload your article as a Word document (.docx).
Blog Posts may be submitted at any time and are considered on a rolling basis. Submissions should not exceed 1,500 words and can be on any issues of international law, including EU law. Please do not submit unrevised university projects, or pieces under consideration elsewhere to the Blog directly. Please include hyperlinks to all sources in your submissions, without footnotes, unless crediting research support.
n 2022/23 we will be working on a turnaround time of 10 days from submission to taking a decision on whether to publish. However, over the holiday seasons the turnaround time will be longer and we will endeavour to get back to authors as soon as possible.
Please send any queries to the CILJ Blog Managing Editor, Tejas Rao (blog@cilj.co.uk).