In the aftermath of the Second World War, Western Europe moved to create an organization that would unite the countries of Europe. One of the Council of Europe's (COE) principal goals was to establish and safeguard the fundamental human and political rights of its peoples. Following in the spirit of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the members drafted the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, better known as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Legal publishing has for the most part remained immune to the phenomenon of what could be called title proliferation—the continual appearance (often followed quickly by their disappearance) of new journals, sometimes of dubious quality, in specialized fields for which there may not be a demand, or even a likely niche. This is not to imply that new law journals are not being published. On the contrary, there is at least anecdotal evidence for the view that new law journals are being published at a faster rate now than a decade, or five years ago. Fortunately, it can be said that those of international and comparative interest are of high quality and deal with emerging fields of law that fully deserve to have new entrants. This column is intended to bring journals of this kind to the attention of our readers. Mention of a journal here should not be taken as an unqualified recommendation for acquisition. Given the number of factors that go into the acquisition decision, it must remain for each person or law library to weigh them.