Leiden Journal of International Law

Leiden Journal of International Law
Title	Leiden Journal of International Law
Discipline	International law
Abbreviation	Leiden J. Int. Law
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Country	Netherlands
Frequency	Quarterly
History	1988–present
Issn	0922-1565

Contents

Leiden Journal of International Law is a peer-reviewed academic journal focusing on international law and related legal issues, published quarterly by Cambridge University Press in association with Leiden University. The journal publishes articles, essays, and book reviews addressing developments in public international law, private international law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law, aiming to bridge scholarship linked to institutions such as the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and the European Court of Human Rights.

History

The journal was founded in 1988 at Leiden University amid growing scholarly attention to post-Cold War legal regimes, following precedents set by periodicals like the American Journal of International Law, the European Journal of International Law, the British Yearbook of International Law, and the Netherlands Yearbook of International Law. Early editorial direction reflected debates contemporaneous with the United Nations's peacebuilding in the Yugoslav Wars and adjudication arising from the Nuremberg Trials legacy, while later volumes addressed crises linked to the Rwandan Genocide, the Iraq War, and the expansion of the European Union. Over time the journal engaged scholars with institutional affiliations to Hague Academy of International Law, Oxford University, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia Law School, Cambridge University, and Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.

Content spans doctrinal analysis, theoretical inquiry, and practice-oriented commentary on cases from the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. It addresses treaty law influenced by instruments such as the Treaty of Versailles, the United Nations Charter, the Geneva Conventions, and the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, and examines subjects intersecting with decisions of the World Trade Organization Appellate Body, sanctions regimes of the United Nations Security Council, and disputes involving the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The journal routinely publishes work on topics tied to the Law of the Sea Convention, the Rome Statute, the Genocide Convention, and jurisprudence from the European Court of Justice, reflecting cross-citations with scholarship from Princeton University, Stanford Law School, New York University, University of Cambridge Faculty of Law, and the Sciences Po Law School.

The editorial board historically includes scholars affiliated with Leiden University, University of Amsterdam, Utrecht University, Tilburg University, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and international appointments from University of Chicago Law School, LSE, Georgetown University Law Center, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, and Melbourne Law School. The journal applies double-blind peer review commonly used by journals such as the Journal of International Economic Law and European Journal of International Law, with editorial oversight reflecting standards practiced by the International Journal of Constitutional Law. Special issues have been guest-edited by researchers from the Hague Joint Academy, the Global Public Policy Institute, and the Clingendael Institute. Publication timelines coordinate with indexing services referenced by Scopus, Web of Science, and the Directory of Open Access Journals standards employed at institutions including Karolinska Institute and Johns Hopkins University.

The journal is abstracted and indexed in major services comparable to those listing the American Journal of International Law, including Scopus, Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics), HeinOnline, EBSCOhost, and legal databases used by Oxford University Press subscribers, Cambridge University Press platforms, and national libraries such as the British Library and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Citation metrics often reference rankings produced by Google Scholar, SCImago, and evaluation frameworks used by universities like Leiden University and University of Oxford.

The journal is cited in scholarship addressing landmark decisions such as those involving the Nicaragua v. United States case before the International Court of Justice, pro bono litigation connected to Amnesty International, and doctrinal debates animated by commentators at Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group. Its articles have influenced policy discussions at the United Nations General Assembly, reports by the International Law Commission, and submissions to treaty bodies including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Human Rights Committee. Reviews in periodicals like the Law Quarterly Review and citations in compendia published by Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press attest to its scholarly reach across faculties at King's College London, University of Edinburgh School of Law, and McGill University.

The journal has published influential pieces engaging with jurisprudence from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, doctrinal reconstructions of the Principle of Non-Refoulement in the context of the European Convention on Human Rights, and analyses of state responsibility tied to the Corfu Channel case. Contributions have come from prominent scholars associated with Hersch Lauterpacht, Rosalyn Higgins, Antonio Cassese, Martti Koskenniemi, and Judith Gardam-informed traditions, and have been cited in monographs by Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and the Hart Publishing catalogue. Special issues have addressed legal dimensions of the Arab Spring, climate litigation linked to the Paris Agreement, and maritime disputes involving South China Sea arbitral awards.

Category:International law journals