Editorial: Twenty Years of the Utrecht Law Review

Exactly twenty years ago, the first (general) issue of the Utrecht Law Review (ULR) was published. Fittingly for the immediate post-9/11 world, it featured five contributions on the legal framework for combating terrorism, with ample attention paid to human rights.¹ The current general issue is decidedly more varied. Still, it is again a reflection of the times, with contributions addressing, among other things, artificial intelligence, digital services, and personal data protection. Throughout its twenty years of existence, ULR articles have consistently addressed pressing societal challenges from a legal perspective, aligning with the Faculty’s focus on taking responsibility for shaping society and addressing critical social issues.²

From its inception, ULR has been an online, open-access journal. Utrecht University (UU) itself initially hosted it. Currently, it is published by Ubiquity Press, a UK-based academic publisher specializing in open-access, peer-reviewed scholarship. ULR remains closely tied to Utrecht University, however. It remains funded by its Law School (open access is never ‘free’). Additionally, it offers the Law School’s research programmes an opportunity to publish special issues on the program’s core themes, subject to the regular peer-review process. This opportunity is amply used. It is worth noting in this respect that, while UU research programmes manage the special issues, contributions are often written by non-UU scholars, sometimes in response to an international call for abstracts or papers. And while UU scholars authored most contributions to general ULR issues in the early years, these issues have been populated primarily by non-UU scholars in recent years. Authors often come from outside the Netherlands, and sometimes even outside Europe. Thus, in terms of authorship, ULR has become a truly international journal.

ULR is a general law review, which means that contributions run the entire gamut of the law. Still, the Law School’s research priorities, which trickle down to the ULR special issues, have led ULR to publish a relatively large number of articles on regulation and enforcement in Europe, accountability and liability law, sustainability, family law, administration of justice, conflict resolution, empirical legal studies, and legal methodology.

However, especially for the annual general issue, ULR is open to any contribution, provided that the law occupies a central position in the analysis. That said, in line with the Law School’s ‘multidimensional’ legal research agenda, ULR has always been primarily interested in legal research that ‘crosses boundaries’, e.g., cross-country comparative legal research, research that connects one legal field with another, or research that enriches legal analysis through reliance on disciplines other than law.³ This means that we have often published articles that transcend the confines of a single discipline or branch of the law, for example, articles that examine a legal doctrine through the lenses of both criminal and private law, or that combine law and psychology.

As ULR celebrates its porcelain anniversary, it continues to thrive, supported by the Law School, its Managing Editor, a dedicated Board of Editors drawn from the Law School’s staff, and a large pool of external reviewers. We are confident that, in twenty years’ time, we can celebrate our ruby anniversary.

Cedric Ryngaert, editor-in-chief