Before you even opened the cover of this issue of the International Journal of Legal Information (IJLI) you may have done a double-take. The cover design is new. And so is our publisher. At the end of 2015, our publishing agreement with the William S. Hein, Co., Ltd. came to a close. Hein has been a long-time supporter and friend of the International Association of Law Libraries (IALL) and is a frequent top-level sponsor at IALL conferences. We thank Hein for its work with the IJLI these past two years, and its ongoing relationship with the IALL. As publisher, Hein oversaw the IJLI through a transitional period after we parted ways with Thomson-Reuters. The personnel at Hein, particularly Sheila Jarrett who was my frequent contact and who provided copy editing and other services, were all pleasant and professional.
After a thorough vetting process, the IALL chose Cambridge University Press (CUP) as the new publisher, printer, and distributor for the IJLI. We are impressed by the professional approach taken by CUP. The Journal staff at CUP have plans to help market the IJLI and to regularize its production. There is a host of very good behind-the-scenes changes coming for the IJLI, several of which are already underway, and there will be other cool changes and features unfolding for the IJLI in the forthcoming months. We believe the IJLI's readers will appreciate these changes inside the pages of the Journal, as well as the new publication schedule which will be regularized, a priority for the IALL as well as for the IJLI's subscribers and readers.
In this issue of the IJLI, we present the annual proceedings from the 34th Annual Course on International Law and Legal Information, Within and in Between: German Legal Tradition in Time of Internationalization and Beyond. The Annual Course was held in Berlin, hosted by the phenomenal Berlin State Library, on September 20–24, 2015.
The issue contains the annual report of IALL President, Jeroen Vervliet, as well as an edited version of the conference booklet. The conference booklet contains the program, biographical notes on the speakers, abstracts of the speakers' papers, and other key information from the conference. Additionally, we are pleased to reproduce four complete papers from the conference.
The first paper is from Professor Dr. Thomas Duve. Professor Duve's thesis focuses on the progressive process of transnationalization in law and legal scholarship. He provides an overview of the forces at work in this process, as well as highlighting some key consequences resulting from these developments.
The second article is authored by Mr. Claus Koggel, currently Head of the Parliamentary and International Relations Services of the German Bundesrat. Mr. Koggel provides a succinct and very informative outline of the Mediation Committee of the Bundesrat and Bundestag. He highlights the structural, functionality, and political framework for the Committee and its central role in producing strong consensus legislation for the German people. It is interesting reading and if one is not already familiar with the Committee, there is a great deal about an institution that operates at the highest level but somewhat behind the scenes in German politics.
Professor Dr. Johanna Schmidt-Räntsch delivered an incredibly interesting lecture at the Annual Course. Her presentation focused on the many – and often surprising – complications related to real property transactions subsequent to the Unification Treaty joining the former East Germany and West Germany. As a Civil Law jurisdiction, the Unification of two vastly different legal and political systems ushered in a period of rapid expansion of German legislation to deal with the myriad legal issues – many unforeseen – caused by unification. Schmidt-Räntsch outlines many of these changes, describes real estate transactional problems caused by unification, and explains the German responses. Fascinating.
The final article is by Professor Dr. Beate Rudolf. Rudolf addresses the timely matter of the interplay of constitutional law and international human rights law. She describes the relationship between specialized human rights treaties on the rights of women, children, and persons with disabilities vis-à-vis more general human rights treaties and their added value. Further, Rudolf addresses current human rights issues such as the protection from racist discrimination and the right to privacy in the digital age.
Of course, no issue is complete without two of our regular features: Book Reviews, edited by Thomas Mills, and the International Calendar, edited by Aslihan Bulut. These two sections of the IJLI have been integral to the Journal's content for many years and they continue to be very popular with our readers.
As you can see, there is much to enjoy in issue 44.1 of the IJLI. As you review the material from the Berlin conference, I hope you will give serious consideration to joining a future IALL conference. This year, we will meet in historic Oxford, England. In 2017, we will meet in colorful, friendly, bustling, affordable Manila! The Philippines is a major player in current and incredibly important territorial disputes with other Pacific Rim nations. The future conferences at both Oxford and Manila will be excellent opportunities to learn and network. Join us!
