Help Save Academic Freedom

Dear colleagues and readers,
It has come to my attention, as it may have to other readers of the European Journal of International Law, that Joseph Weiler (left), professor of law at NYU with too many titles and directorships to mention, is facing criminal prosecution in France for libel due to his refusal to remove from his website a book review that the book's author claims is not only unfavorable, but libelous. In his editorial "Book Reviewing and Academic Freedom" (in EJIL), which raises important issues concerning the system of scholarly book reviewing, Weiler seeks the support of scholars in various disciplines, particularly those with experience in editing scholarly journals that publish book reviews. Trial is scheduled for June 25, 2010.

A new blog for EJIL aficionados ...

The European Journal of International Law has just launched a new blog, entitled EJIL: Talk!
For the first few months, it will be edited by Dapo Akande (right), a Visiting Associate Professor and Robina Foundation International Scholar at the Yale Law School. Dapo, originally from Nigeria, is also a Yamani Fellow, a Tutor in Public International Law, and a University Lecturer with St. Peter's College, University of Oxford.
EJIL: Talk! hopes to follow in the tradition of the EJIL with

its panache for the theoretical article, for aggressively bringing in younger scholars, for its intellectually diverse modes of analysis, realism mixed with doctrine, a strong appeal to, and interest in, history, to mention but a few.

The blog is a welcome edition to the EJIL's already vibrant online presence; a sizeable portion of the journal's current content is already made free to the reader, and all content becomes free one year after publication. Cross-posting is welcome.

Heartfelt welcome!