CYIL 2011

PREFACE

Dear Readers, This Czech Yearbook is a publication of the Czech Society of International Law, acting in cooperation with the Czech Branch of the International Law Association. According to its Statute, the CSIL covers both Public and Private International Law in its Czech Yearbook, including some aspects of European law. The CSIL is a voluntary, non-profit organization of academics and professionals in the field of international law, a unique organization of this kind in the Czech Republic. The Society was established in 1993 as the successor to the Czechoslovak Society of International Law, acting under the auspices of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. The CSIL is a scholarly organization associated with the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. It is subsidized by the Council of Scientific Societies of the Czech Republic. The Society closely cooperates with the Czech Branch of the International Law Association and with foreign societies of international law. It represents, through its members, the Czech doctrine of international law at various international scientific organizations, at international conferences and on other similar occasions. In a sense, the modern Czech Yearbook of International Law (re)established in 2010 draws inspiration from and builds on the best democratic traditions of the Czechoslovak doctrine of International Law as well as the Czechoslovak Yearbook of International Law published by the Czechoslovak Branch of ILA in London (1942). Our Yearbook also recognizes the legacy of the later Czech and Slovak international legal scholarship reflected in two other periodicals published, with some interruptions, between 1955 and 1990. You have in your hands the second volume of the new Czech Yearbook. We are aware that any editorial project will be judged not at the very first moment but from a longer-term perspective, and not by words but by deeds. From this point view, we are pleased to be able to keep our promise. After one year, we now present Volume 2 (2011), a publication that brings an even richer content than the first issue. The variety of studies and articles in this volume covers many topical issues of contemporary International and European law. It extends from codification topics, such as the responsibility of international organizations, and the legal personality of the European Union, to certain issues of human rights and international humanitarian law (e.g. internally displaced persons, diplomatic assurances in counter terrorism activities, accession of the EU to the European Convention on Human Rights or rights of the child), ranging from some general and particular problems of international criminal law and justice to views on international investment law, where the Czech experience with BITs and investment arbitration may be of special interest to both local and foreign law professionals.

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