Call for Submissions: Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law (UNYB), Volume 30

The Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law (UNYB) is a leading peer-reviewed academic publication devoted to the activities of the United Nations in the field of international law. Founded in 1997 and produced by the Max Planck Foundation for International Peace and the Rule of Law, it is published by Brill Nijhoff and is academically indexed in Scopus. The Yearbook examines UN law in its narrow sense (legal foundations, treaties and resolutions) as well as the wider legal issues connected to UN objectives such as sustainable development, refugee protection, disarmament, the rule of law and gender equality. It is edited by Editors-in-Chief Prof. Erika de Wet and Dr Kathrin Maria Scherr.

The editors invite submissions for Volume 30 of the UNYB. Each volume features a Special Thematic Forum alongside a General Section. Submissions are welcome both for the thematic forum described below and for the general section, which covers UN law, public international law and comparative constitutional law more broadly. All accepted contributions undergo double-blind peer review before publication.

The thematic forum for Volume 30 asks a central question: to what extent do the diverse institutions and entities that comprise the wider United Nations system remain effective and resilient in advancing their mandates? Contributions are invited across the following sub-themes:

• Institutional law concerning specialised agencies, subsidiary organs, treaty bodies, funds and programmes, commissions, and related entities
• The evolving roles of human rights bodies amid political contestation and selective State engagement
• Institutional responses to geopolitical fragmentation and State withdrawal
• The political economy of the UN system, including funding structures and donor influence
• Inter-institutional coordination, coherence, fragmentation and overlapping mandates
• The capacity of UN components to generate, interpret and implement international legal norms without strong political consensus
• Historical and theoretical reflections on the evolution of the wider UN system

Beyond the thematic forum, the UNYB welcomes general-section submissions on the law of the United Nations, public international law and comparative constitutional law. Authors whose work falls outside the specific thematic focus but within the Yearbook's broader scope are encouraged to submit.

The call is open to all interested contributors worldwide, including academics, practitioners and researchers in international law, with no nationality restriction. Co-authored submissions are permitted.

Interested authors must first submit an abstract of no more than 500 words, prepared as a Word document and emailed to unyb@mpfpr.de. The abstract must set out:

• A working title
• The institution(s) examined
• The main arguments of the proposed contribution
• An explanation of how the piece fits within the scope of the UNYB

The abstract should be accompanied by a short biography of the author (maximum 100 words). On a positive assessment of the abstract, authors are invited to submit a full manuscript, which then proceeds to double-blind peer review.

Standard articles should be between 8,000 and 14,000 words, including footnotes. Shorter opinion notes with a reduced word count are also accepted. A comprehensive Writing Guide and Author Guidelines are available on the UNYB website and should be followed when preparing the full manuscript.

There is no submission or publication fee. Accepted contributions are published in the Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law by Brill Nijhoff, a double-blind peer-reviewed Yearbook indexed in Scopus (ISSN 1389-4633 print; 1875-7413 online). Publication in the UNYB offers strong visibility within the international law community.