Home
In 1975, a group of students and professors at the UNC School of Law recognized the growing influence of international law on the North Carolina business community and founded the North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation as a means of connecting academia with law firms and businesses operating internationally. The fledgling journal produced its first issue of three articles, totaling 107 pages, with just a shoestring budget and the guidance of law student Henry Burwell and faculty advisor Seymour W. Wurfel.
The journal has grown steadily since then, with Volume 40 amounting to more than 1,000 pages. Volume 41 included the journal’s first issue of the Forum, the journal’s online addendum, and introduced “reports,” a class of student papers that combines the analytical rigor of print with the immediacy of online publishing. The journal’s expanded online presence reflects its editors’ recognition of the need for agility amid the increasing pace of commerce, finance, war, migration, and other legally relevant global interaction.
The journal’s newly shortened name, the North Carolina Journal of International Law (JIL), further reflects this agility. While the journal started out focusing on international issues affecting the business community, it has since broadened its scope to now cover a broad range of issues, from cyberespionage and intellectual property to human rights and territorial disputes. The journal also discusses the impact of contemporary issues on international law through its annual symposium.
For more information on the history of JIL, please see Jerry W. Markham, North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation and International Course Offerings, 73 N.C. L. REV. 805 (1995).