Greetings from Chicago!
I was originally supposed to begin my new stint as editor of the International Journal of Legal Information with volume 51, no. 3 (Winter). However, I stepped in a bit early to move the transition along and get volume 51, no. 2 online and out the door.
I've asked Cambridge University Press to use its FirstView service, which will put our articles online individually before the full issue is online, and the print issue is sent out. Subscribers to Cambridge Core will thus have earlier access to IJLI's articles, and the authors’ scholarship will be disseminated faster. I have other plans and ideas for the IJLI, which I will share in my editor's comment for issue 51.3 (my “official” launch as editor).
We have Chris Glon at the Emory University School of Law (Atlanta) to thank for selecting the great articles for this issue. First, there is Daniele Musmeci's compelling piece that explores the implications of a Dutch district court's 2022 decision on the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine. In that case, the court found three individuals guilty under Dutch law for the intentional crash of the aircraft and the murders of 298 people. Musmeci expertly analyzes, through an international law lens, whether the Russian Federation can be regarded as a State actively involved in this incident and how the decision might impact the wider dispute between Russia and Ukraine, including one of the related cases now under review in the International Court of Justice.
Next, four Bangladeshi and Indonesian scholars (Md. Tanvir Alam, Ahmad Abbas, Iin Mutmainnah, and Sabrina Afrin Tonny) explore and determine the legal constraints related to adult male rape and the consequences as they exist in the Bangladeshi criminal justice system. The authors conducted a study on the topic, utilizing multiple sources such as written responses from relatives of rape survivors and interviews with law enforcement personnel and legal practitioners.
Moving the focus to a different continent, Emmanuel Sarpong Owusu looks at “Witchcraft Accusations and the Tort of Defamation in Anglophone Africa.” In a fascinating read, Owusu identifies laws on witchcraft accusations in Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, Tanzania, and South Africa, and then discusses court decisions from those countries concerning civil defamation claims in the context of witchcraft accusations.
Finally, six Ukrainian scholars present a comparative study on emerging trends in modern labor law in Ukraine and the European Union. Included in the discussion are trends that have arisen spontaneously because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the authors analyzing how legislators have addressed the associated challenges in the employment arena. I am particularly grateful to Chris Glon for selecting this piece, as I think it's important to feature the work of scholars who continue to research, write, and publish—even when their countries are under siege.
I invite all of you to support these fine scholars by reading their work and engaging with them if you so desire. And I also invite you (the reader) to research, write, and publish (in the IJLI, of course!).
P.S. Don't forget to take a look at Caroline Osborne's book review section and Amy Flick's updated “International Calendar.”
