CYIL Vol. 4, 2013

PREFACE

Dear Readers, You now have in your hands the fourth volume of the Czech Yearbook of Public & Private International Law (CYIL), appearing, as usual, in October. Now we can speak about a certain tradition of “International Law Harvest”. This Czech Yearbook is a scholarly 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 publishes the Yearbook both in printed and electronic versions (www.cyil.eu). As of the third volume we have been proud to offer an electronic version in the user-friendly format of an E-book, suitable for PCs, notebooks and tablets. The Czech Yearbook stems from an academic tradition, but it is also open to new technologies. In 2013 the Czech Yearbook applied to be indexed in the Czech index of scholarly peer-reviewed journals (RVVI) and in the SCOPUS database. We will inform you about the results of this on our web site. However, the content is or should be, in our opinion, just as important as the form, if not even more important. From this point of view, Volume 4 (2013) upholds the standards set up in previous volumes. The variety of studies and articles in this volume covers many issues of contemporary International and European law. They include, inter alia, State responsibility, nuclear liability, State immunity or issues of sovereignty and ownership in Outer Space law. For the first time, the CYIL also presents a section on EU law. An important number of articles deal with international human rights law, in particular from the perspective of the European system. Some contributions concern various issues of international criminal law and criminal justice, including universal jurisdiction and reparations before the ICC. In accord with its tradition, in the Volume 4 the CYIL also covers certain aspects of international economic law (investment and trade law, including new developments in the WTO). Moreover, the publication also presents topical information on the work of the UN International Law Commission in 2013. As usual the authors of this publication come both from Czech and foreign institutions, from academia and legal practice. More so than in previous years, this volume includes contributions of foreign professors and researchers, coming from or teaching in Austria, Belgium, Island, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine and the USA. As to the Czech institutions involved, these include Charles University in Prague, Palacky University in Olomouc, the Institute of Law of the Czech Academy of Sciences, the University of Economics in Prague, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and