The North Carolina Journal of International Law (NCJIL) is a student-run legal journal published at the University of North Carolina School of Law. The Journal prints articles, comments, and notes written by professors, practitioners, and students. It focuses on international business law, paying particular attention to the area of international trade, but publishes pieces reflecting all aspects of law affecting the international community.
In 1975, a group of students and professors at the School of Law recognized the growing influence of international law on the North Carolina business community and founded ILJ as a means of connecting academia with the law firms and businesses operating internationally. The fledgling journal, under the guidance of law student Henry Burwell, began operation on a meager budget and produced its first issue of three articles totaling 107 pages.* During each of the forty years that followed, the journal has continued to grow. Currently it publishes four issues per volume.
Each issue has a circulation of about 300 subscribers. The majority of the current subscribers are the libraries of law schools, major law firms, and large corporate legal departments, but rapid subscription growth is enabling the Journal to reach more medium and small firms, as well as foreign governments, law schools, libraries, Westlaw, and Lexis/Nexis.
The Journal has two principal goals. First, to provide practical information on international law for the growing number of attorneys and businesspersons involved in international law. Second, to provide writing experience to UNC Law students. In pursuit of the latter goal, the Journal’s policy always has been to accept as many student pieces for publication as possible.
Furthermore, ILJ’s annual symposium features legal scholars and practitioners discussing the impact of contemporary issues on international law.
*Information on the history of the Journal comes from The North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation and International Course Offerings by Jerry W. Markham, 73 N.C. L. Rev. 805 (1995).