When Mark Engsberg asked if I wanted to guest edit issue 50.3 of the International Journal of Legal Information, I jumped at the chance. Although I am a trained copyeditor, I had never had the experience of compiling a journal issue from beginning to end and was eager to try my hand at it. When I enthusiastically gave my assent, however, I didn't foresee that during the next six months, I would move to a different apartment, change jobs, and end up with a bad case of COVID-19 (in that order)—thus the delay in getting the issue out (my apologies). In preparing this IJLI issue, I also learned how much work the editorial process is, and I think we all owe Mark a great deal of gratitude for serving as the IJLI's Editor for so many years! THANK YOU, MARK!!
Issue 50.3 contains an array of articles from around the world, which I believe you will find quite interesting. From Switzerland, Manuel Rodriguez looks at Operation RUBICON, which was a clandestine decryption initiative involving the German and U.S. intelligence services, with the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) acting alone in later years. The decryption operation was headquartered in Switzerland under the guise of Crypto AG, a manufacturer of cipher machines, which we now know were rigged and used to gather intelligence in various contexts, including the 1973 overthrow of Salvador Allende in Chile, the 1978 Camp David Accords, and the 1982 Falklands War. I remember all these events quite vividly and now view them differently knowing what was happening behind the scenes. The thrust of the piece asks and answers whether Crypto AG's presence in Switzerland breached the host country's neutrality responsibilities under international law. Rodriguez expertly approaches this question, but at the same time, he is an excellent storyteller, which makes this article extremely readable. I will let you read the article yourselves to find out the answer to the question posed.
The other article contributions to this issue come from India and Ukraine. Drs. Sonu Agarwal and Deepankar Sharma, both law professors at Manipal University in Jaipur, provide an overview of the Indian government's attempt to assist female victims of sexual crimes with “One Stop Crisis Centres” that offer various types of support, including legal, medical, and psychological. The two professors conclude that, although the initial impetus behind creating these facilities was laudable, the Centres have seemingly failed to live up to their expectations. The third article comes from a group of Ukrainian law professors who wrote the majority of their piece at the height of the pandemic, examining the COVID crisis's effect on international labor migration. The article was written prior to the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the authors explain in a poignant prefatory note how their country was hit with a double whammy—a global pandemic and an ensuing foreign invasion. I am grateful to these authors for contributing the piece in the midst of terribly dire circumstances, exhibiting the same resilience and resistance that their compatriots have demonstrated since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
Finally, Duncan Alford has penned an obituary of Christian Wiktor (1933–2022), who was a well-known figure in the international law library community. Among his important posts was his time spent as law library director at the Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University, from 1971 to 1998. In addition to his long career in law libraries, Wiktor was an expert on treaties and authored numerous reference works in that area. The IJLI's regular book reviews section and the “International Calendar” feature round out the content of this issue.
Before closing, I want to take this opportunity to thank the International Association of Law Libraries and the crew at Stanford's Robert Crown Law Library for planning and hosting IALL's 40th Annual Course in early October. It was truly a fabulous event and a memorable experience for all attendees. Next year's Course will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, and in 2024, IALL will meet in Oslo, Norway.
Mark will be back for the next issue!
Signing off,
Julienne E. Grant
Louis L. Biro Law Library, University of Illinois Chicago School of Law
October 21, 2022
