Issue of the English Language Version of the Moscow Journal of International Law

Address by Prof. Yury M. Kolosov, Editor-in-Chief, Director, Department of International Law, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. Dear readers, In front of you is an experimental zero issue of the English language version of the Moscow Journal of International Law. This issue includes selected articles published by the Russian language edition of the Journal in 2000-2001. The Moscow (and originally the Soviet) Journal of International Law was created as an open podium for various, at times diametrically opposite viewpoints on the present-day international law. Over 11 years of the existence of the Russian language version we have published on the pages of this Journal articles written by more than 700 authors from Russia, the CIS countries, Canada, the United States, Greece, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Laos, SaoTome e Principe, France, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, India, Germany, Great Britain and other countries. The spectrum of the issues under consideration has always been broad to the maximum and it includes questions of theory of international law, legal problems of international security, questions of international humanitarian law, space law, air law, diplomatic and consular law, international maritime law, law of international treaties, correlation between international and national law. The Journal has repeatedly focused attention on the issues of territory in international law, international ecological law, various aspects of international private, business, investment and tax law. In the pages of our Journal there is always room for young authors students and post graduates of law faculties, space is allocated to announce new legal literature publications. And finally, and this is one of the important merits of the publication, our Journal has published different international 2000-2001ENG6.p65 1 29.09.02, 20:22 conventions, documents of international organizations, bilateral agreements and laws of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the publication of only the Russian language version of the Journal substantially limits the circle of our potential readers. The Editorial Board deems it purposeful to let foreign colleagues familiarize themselves with our international law thinking, our vision of international law problems, and this has made the need felt in publishing a full-fledged regular English language version of the Journal starting from 2003. The English language version will be semi- annual and will contain almost the same kind of materials just like the Rus- sian version. Changes may concern published documents because the Editori- al Board will strive toward broader familiarization of its readership with the normative base of the Russian Federation and the CIS countries. Also the Journal will be open for polemics on the issues raised in the materials published. We hope that our Journal will be interesting for scientists and practicing lawyers of different countries and will contribute toward deeper mutual understanding in the creation of a safer, democratic peace on the basis of respect and observance of the principles and norms of the current international law. 2000-2001ENG6.p65 2 29.09.02, 20:22 Welcoming Address by Prof. Anatoly V. Torkunov, Chairman of the Editorial Council, Rector of the MGIMO (U) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. The Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) is the founder of the Moscow Journal of International Law. The MGIMO is the oldest and leading university in the CIS countries for training specialists in international relations. Created in 1944, the MGIMO has already for more than half a century been training historians, lawyers, economists, financiers, political scientists, journalists, managers, specializing in various fields of international cooperation. Today, almost 4,000 students pursue their studies at MGIMO-University. Among University graduates there are heads of state, eminent political leaders, diplomats, lawyers, businessmen. The MGIMO has always been an international university, here up to the mid-80s studies were pursued by the students from the socialist bloc countries, and later the MGIMO thrust its doors wide open for students and post-graduate students from all over the world. Now more than 500 foreign students and post-graduate students study at 8 faculties of the University. MGIMO professors are considered to be recognized leaders in the scientific life of the country. Scientific schools of the university, which are recognized both in Russia and abroad, have been carrying out scientific research in certain directions. This is, first of all, the history and theory of international relations and foreign politics, international law, the constitutional law of Russia and foreign countries, international economic relations and world economy, political science, sociology and also philology and linguistics. The University has always devoted great attention to the teaching of legal disciplines on the whole, and international law, in particular. The legal departments 2000-2001ENG6.p65 3 29.09.02, 20:22 of the Law Faculty of the University were headed by such well-known jurists as Prof. S.B. Krylov, one of the authors of the UN Charter, Prof. F.I. Kozhevnikov, a former Judge of the International Court of Justice, Prof. I.P. Ilyinsky, Prof. A.D. Kejlin, Prof. K.I. Yaichkov, and Prof. R.A. Naryshkina. Today, studies are conducted at the faculty by Prof. M.V. Baglai, Chairman of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, Prof. Yu.M. Kolosov, Member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Prof Yu.A. Reshetov, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, a member of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Prof. V.A. Kabatov, a merited scientist of Russia, an Arbiter of the ICAC and the Marine Arbitration Commission of the Russian Federation, Prof. S.N. Lebe- dev, Chairman of the Marine Arbitration Commission of the Russian Feder- ation, a participant of a number of international conferences on private law, Prof. L.M. Entin, Director of the Institute of European Law, Prof. I.I. Vere- meenko, Head of the Department of Administrative and Finance Law. It is therefore quite natural that the initiative of the professors of the International Department of Law on the establishment of a scientific publication has immediately found approval and broad support among the Administration of the University. Here the MJIL from the very beginning is not a purely university publication for professors and students of the MGIMO, and is oriented toward the broadest audience of readers. The Editorial Council of the MJIL comprises well-known international law jurists from Russia, Belorussia, Ar- menia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Georgia, Turkemen- istan, Latvia and Lithuania. The Editorial Board of the magazine consists of scientists jurists of the MGIMO (University), and also of the Moscow State Academy of Law, the Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Af- fairs of the Russian Federation, the Academy of the General Headquarters and the Constitutional Court of Russia. The Journal plays an important role in the learning process, quickly familiarizing students with the latest changes, taking place in international law on the whole, and its separate branches, it provides an opportunity to get acquainted with different approaches and assessments of specialists of these or those problems of our time, it expands professional outlooks. I want to voice the hope that the English-language edition of the Journal will find its readers in different parts of the Earth and will not only propagate internal law views of Russian scientists but will first of all serve the cause of mutual understanding and expansion of contacts between the peoples of various countries. 2000-2001ENG6.p65 4 29.09.02, 20:22 Business and Science: Hand in Hand by Leonid V. Seleznev, First Vice General Director, Ruseltrans. The Russian Electrical Transport (Ruseltrans) a holding company, uniting Russian enterprises for manufacture of trolley buses and trams, and it is involved in marketing and sales of products of these enterprises in the Russian Federation and abroad. Modern comfortable vehicles with the TROLZA trademark every day thrust the doors open for passengers in Russia, the CIS countries, Bulgaria, Hungary, Greece, Canada, Chili and Yugoslavia. A natural question arises and what does international law have to do with this? At the first glance there is no connection, and from the point of view of advertising products of a machine- building enterprise of the holding the pages of a scientific legal publication are not the best venue. Such conclusion would be correct still 3-5 years ago. However, Russian business, having gone through the stages of its development, ups and downs, mass dismissals and openings of new plants is beginning to realize its role in supporting and developing the countrys fundamental science. General theoretical studies on the whole, and in the field of international law in particular, have never yielded and could not yield immediate profits. Nevertheless, the development of humanitarian branches exerts substantial influence on the formation of stable democratic, open society, which in the final analysis is the main condition and guarantor of normal development of any business. Of no less importance is propaganda of scientific legal research (including private legal research) outside

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