Special Edition 2023-2024: The Environment and Human Rights
The Harvard Human Rights Journal is excited to announce our Special Edition for the 2023-2024 publishing cycle, titled, The Environment and Human Rights.
The past few years have witnessed environmental issues intersecting with human rights concerns, touching virtually every aspect of international law. The Republic of Vanuatu led the charge for an ICJ advisory opinion on climate change with reference to major human rights treaties. Youth groups have taken their grievances before human rights courts and treaty bodies, staking the claims of future generations. Many lawyers see prospects for environmental protection under the weighty umbrella of criminal law, campaigning to incorporate the crime of ecocide within the ambit of the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, international law continues to struggle with addressing the corporate form, and debates rage about the relationship between capital and human rights, in a paradigm where extractive industries have substantially degraded the natural world.
Amidst this accelerating convergence in all areas of law, HHRJ’s Special Edition invites legal scholars and practitioners from all jurisdictions, and who work at the intersection of environment and human rights, to submit contributions for the Special Edition (online and print). These can take three principal forms:
- Articles (10,000 – 25,000 words). Traditional scholarly articles, examining human rights issues at a high level and with originality.
- Essays (3,000 – 10,000 words). Essays examine contemporary issues with a more acute argumentative focus.
- Case/Policy Commentaries (3,000 – 10,000 words). Commentaries analyze recent cases (before any adjudicatory body, including international courts, domestic courts, treaty bodies, tribunals, etc.), policies, or treaties.
- Student Notes (10,000 – 15,000 words). Non-doctoral law students may also submit a piece for consideration.
All word counts are inclusive of footnotes and other addenda. We construe our subject matter broadly, acknowledging that both the “environment” and “human rights” assume a different valence across different jurisdictions. All submissions must have a legal nexus, but we encourage diverse methodologies, from the quantitative to the ethnographic. We welcome articles about domestic issues, but strongly encourage authors to draw insights applicable to other jurisdictions.
For Practitioners
We further encourage legal practitioners in organizations that work at the intersection of environment and human rights to submit pieces for consideration. They may write about issues pertinent to their practice, such as legal strategies they employed in environmental litigation; strategic advocacy models their organization has successfully implemented to address a human rights issue; meta-discussions about the state of environmental advocacy, and other topics.
In addition to Articles, Essays, and Case/Policy Commentaries, organizations may let us know if they are open to being interviewed by a member of the HHRJ masthead regarding their work. The interview will be recorded, and the transcript will be placed on our website in written form. They may reach us through our submissions email below.
Eligibility
All who possess a law degree, or who are working towards one, can submit any kind of piece. Longer pieces (10,000-15,000 words) by non-doctoral students (JDs, LLBs, LLMs) shall receive the designation of “Student Note” and shall be cited as such.
Submissions Instructions
All submissions must be submitted either through Scholastica or through our submissions email, submissions.hhrj@mail.law.harvard.edu. We will review all submissions on a rolling basis, and all accepted pieces will be allocated across the print and online journals at our discretion. We accept all kinds of pieces throughout the year, but we strongly prefer that Articles (10,000-15,000 words) are submitted before the end of 2023. Unfortunately, due to high volumes, we cannot respond to everyone regarding the status of their submission.
We look forward to receiving contributions in this burgeoning – and increasingly vital – field of scholarship.