Call for papers - vol. 9 no. 2 (2025)

MAIN THEME: SANCTIONS: PRACTICAL LEGAL PERSPECTIVES
EDITOR OF THE VOLUME: DR MARCIN ŁUKOWSKI

EASTERN EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF TRANSNATIONAL RELATIONS IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE OUR UPCOMING ISSUE: “SANCTIONS: PRACTICAL LEGAL PERSPECTIVES” TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE SUMMER AS VOLUME 9, NUMBER 2.

Sanctions have long been a powerful instrument of foreign policy, but their complexity and widespread implications have grown significantly in recent years. Following three years of the most extensive and severe sanctions ever imposed in response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine—preceded by decades of restrictive measures shaping lawfare and international policymaking—sanctions compliance has become a crucial and unavoidable reality for businesses and institutions worldwide. While legal scholars have analyzed sanctions extensively from theoretical and policy perspectives, a critical gap remains in the practical implementation of sanctions, particularly in the private sector. How are sanctions applied in practice? How do financial institutions, multinational corporations, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) navigate the complex and often conflicting regulatory landscape? What challenges do compliance officers, trade specialists, and legal professionals face in enforcing sanctions within their organizations? How do discrepancies in national enforcement across EU Member States impact businesses and compliance efforts? What changes should be made to existing legislation, including Council Regulation 833/2014 and Council Regulation 269/2014, to address practical implementation issues and close existing loopholes? The Need for a Practical Perspective Sanctions present significant challenges not only for the private sector but also for public authorities responsible for their enforcement. Regulatory bodies, customs authorities, financial intelligence units, and law enforcement authorities often struggle to apply and interpret the rapidly evolving sanctions framework effectively. Compliance professionals and businesses working on the frontlines of sanctions implementation frequently identify gaps and inconsistencies that remain invisible to policymakers. The goal of this special issue is not to wait for another official guideline from competent authorities but rather to create a practical knowledge base for public administration and policymakers, informed by real-world experiences from the private sector. We invite practitioners, legal experts, compliance officers, corporate counsel, enforcement agencies, and scholars to contribute insights that bridge the gap between legislation and practice.

Suggested Themes and Topics
We encourage submissions that explore the broad and complex subject of sanctions from multiple perspectives. Papers may address, but are not limited to, the following topics:
• Gaps in Sanctions Regimes: Identifying legal loopholes and proposing necessary amendments to improve enforcement.
• The Private Sector Perspective: What public authorities do not understand about sanctions but should be aware of from a corporate compliance standpoint.
• The European Union and Its Member States: Examining the dynamics between EU-wide sanctions and the development of autonomous national sanctions within the bloc.
• Best Practices in Sanctions Implementation: How businesses should apply sanctions, avoid compliance pitfalls, and navigate risk-based approaches.
• Conflicting Sanctions Regimes: Managing contradictions between EU, UK, and US sanctions frameworks while ensuring legal and operational compliance.
• Sanctions Enforcement & Litigation: National sanctions enforcement trends, judicial challenges, and evolving case law.
• Three Years of Sanctions on Russia: Lessons learned, unexpected challenges, and practical adaptations from corporate and government perspectives.
• Forgotten Sanctions Regimes: Revisiting under-enforced or overlooked sanctions programs beyond the Russia-Ukraine context.
• The Lifting of Sanctions: Criteria, legal mechanisms, and political considerations for easing or removing restrictive measures.
• Enhancing the Efficacy of Sanctions: Identifying Areas for Intensification: exploration of sectors and mechanisms where sanctions could be strengthened
• Emerging Patterns in Sanctions Circumvention: An analysis of methods and strategies employed to evade international sanctions, with a focus on recent developments and case studies.
• Prospective EU and UK Sanctions on the United States: Assessing the Unprecedented: A critical examination of the feasibility, implications, and geopolitical ramifications of potential sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United Kingdom on the United States.
• Future of Sanctions: How should the law evolve to address upcoming geopolitical, technological, and economic challenges? What legislative responses are needed in advance?
• Sector-Specific Sanctions Challenges: Examining the impact of sanctions on critical industries, including finance, energy, logistics, and technology.
We particularly welcome submissions offering interdisciplinary perspectives, empirical studies, case analyses, and comparative research that highlight real-world enforcement challenges and opportunities for improving the current sanctions framework.

Submission Guidelines
• Manuscripts should be between 3,500–10,000 words, including footnotes
• Abstracts (200–300 words) should be submitted for initial review before full manuscript submission.
• Submissions should follow the journal’s citation and formatting guidelines, available on the journal’s website.
• Papers must be submitted in English.
• The deadline for submissions is 30 April 2025, with the issue scheduled for publication in summer 2025.

Submission Details:
To apply, please send your abstract to dr Marcin Łukowski (marcin_lukowski@outlook.com): no later than 28 March 2025. We encourage you to send your abstract before this date.
Initial acceptance decision: within 5 days of abstract submission
Submission of papers: 30 April 2025
Reviews: by 20 May 2025
Volume Publication: June/July 2025
Enquiries and Information
For further information on the publication process, please see: http://eejtr.uwb.edu.pl/submissions/

We are looking forward to your submissions.
EEJTR

 

Category: European Union Law, International Law, Sanctions Law