Call for Papers: Romanian Yearbook of International and European Law (RYIEL), Inaugural Volume 1 (2026) [Published by Brill | Nijhoff]

The Romanian Yearbook of International and European Law (RYIEL) is a new annual publication of the Faculty of Law of the West University of Timisoara, published by Brill | Nijhoff. It is designed as a forum for original scholarship in public international law and European Union law, documenting and contextualising the intersection between international and EU law in the Romanian context and, by extension, the wider Eastern European region.

The Yearbook describes its approach as rationalist and humanist: an emphasis on values, the correlation of the legal dimension with the moral and philosophical, reflection on the ethical foundations of international and European law, and interdisciplinary dialogue between law, philosophy, political science and international relations.

The inaugural volume is devoted to the special theme The Tradition of International Law in Central and Eastern Europe. The volume seeks to explore these traditions from historical, doctrinal, comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives, while examining their continuing relevance to contemporary international and European law.

RYIEL welcomes original and unpublished contributions engaging with this special theme.

Proposal submissions for the inaugural volume should only include:

• A brief abstract of approximately 300 to 600 words describing the proposed article.
• A statement by the author confirming the originality of the proposed article and that a manuscript regarding it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Full manuscripts are not required at this stage. Authors whose proposals are selected will draft their manuscripts in accordance with the RYIEL submission guidelines.

Once a proposal is accepted, the manuscript must follow the Yearbook's submission guidelines:

• Length: normally 7,500 to 11,000 words, including footnotes but excluding the abstract.
• Anonymity: submissions must respect the principle of anonymity so that the double-blind peer review works.
• Files required: the manuscript text with no details allowing identification of the author (this is the file sent for peer review); a separate title page indicating the author, email address, affiliation and article title; and a short CV of the author.
• A short abstract and a personal statement that the manuscript has not been published, submitted or accepted elsewhere.
• Formatting must follow the RYIEL Style Sheet available on the Yearbook's submission guidelines page.

Where the guidelines and a specific call for papers conflict, the rules set in the call for papers take priority.

RYIEL is organised into recurring sections:

• Articles and Essays: the main academic component, featuring peer-reviewed in-depth studies at the junction of international and European law, with attention to the Eastern European context. The editorial board gives priority to articles of enduring scholarly relevance over those limited to immediate developments.
• Romanian State Practice in International and European Law: an account of Romania's official legal position and conduct, with contributions invited from governmental authorities, practitioners and academics.
• Romanian Jurisprudence on International and European Law: critical analyses and annotated summaries of significant Romanian judgments interpreting or applying international and EU law.
• Book Reviews and Colloquia: reviews of recent works in international and European law and reports from major academic events and conferences held in Romania.

All scholarly submissions in the peer-reviewed part undergo a double-blind peer-review procedure. The Yearbook states that it maintains complete editorial autonomy, with publication decisions based solely on academic merit.

English is the primary language of publication; articles and essays in French may also be accepted. RYIEL will operate primarily as a digital, open-access publication. The Yearbook encourages research on works belonging to authors from historically underrepresented geographical areas, especially but not exclusively Central and Eastern Europe, and citation is not restricted exclusively to languages of international circulation.

Contributions are welcomed from Romanian as well as international scholars, which the Yearbook frames as supporting an inclusive and intellectually diverse academic exchange. No nationality or institutional restriction is stated in the call, so scholars based in India may submit.

The call, the submission guidelines and the Yearbook's own description mention no submission charge, processing fee or publication fee.

The Editors-in-Chief are Judge Iulia Motoc (Judge at the International Criminal Court, professor of International and European Law at the West University of Timisoara), Judge Sebastian Raduletu (Judge at the European Court of Human Rights elected in respect of Romania, professor at the University of Craiova) and Professor Raluca Bercea (professor of European Union law and Human Rights Law, West University of Timisoara).

The Associate Editors are Matei Alexianu (Loyola University Chicago), Diana Botau (Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca) and Daniela-Anca Deteseanu (Vice-Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest).

Proposals should be submitted electronically to ryiel@e-uvt.ro, no later than 20 August 2026, end of day. Authors will be informed regarding the selection of their proposals by 10 September 2026.