EJIL Editorial Vol 21:1- In this issue . . .

We begin this issue with a symposium to honour one of our Founding Editors, Professor Antonio Cassese, who recently celebrated his 70th birthday. Many happy returns.  We publish five short pieces on the role that public international law plays and can play in the protection of individuals, a topic of abiding concern to Nino. From a variety of perspective our writers, Giorgio Gaja, Christian Tomuschat, Andrew Clapham, Luigi Condorelli and Francesco Francioni each provide tribute by providing insight in this particular area of international law.  We extend warm thanks to Paola Gaeta, an EJIL Editorial Board member, for Guest Editing this symposium.

In our articles section you will find a trenchant piece by B.S. Chimni – ‘Prolegomena to a Class Approach to International Law’ –with a distinct and challenging theoretical voice.  Next, we have an article by Mario Mendez entitled, ‘The Legal Effect of Community Agreements: Maximalist Treaty Enforcement and Judicial Avoidance Techniques’, which suggests that a ‘twin-track’ approach to treaty enforcement is developing in the European Community.  We turn then to two pieces which engage with fresh questions concerning international humanitarian law.  We hope you will read these articles by Katherine Del Mar and Carlo Focarelli as logical extensions of the symposium in this issue.  Our final article by Roozbeh Baker addresses an ever fresh topic: ‘Customary International Law in the 21st Century: Old Challenges and New Debates’.

As part of our occasional series – Critical Review of International Governance – we publish a piece by Milagros Álvarez-Verdugo  which investigates the relationship between climate change and the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Life continues even after the Copenhagen farce.

In an earlier editorial, we encouraged review essays which cover a variety of texts on a single topic.  In this issue we include a good example of an insightful review essay by Lindsey Cameron and Rebecca Everly on territorial administration.

The Last Page features a poem by Laura Coyne entitled ‘Market Fictions’ – food for the soul.