It has been over a year since I began working from home. Looking back on the email announcement about transitioning to working from home is like looking at a time capsule. At that time, there was a focus on cleaning and sanitization. Most business travel was canceled, as were so many important meetings and events, including the first ever year-long postponement of the International Association of Law Libraries (IALL) Annual Course.Footnote 1 It was to have been in Toulouse, France in October, 2020. I believe a great many of us were positively crushed when that news came out. When the order came in March 2020 for my university, Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, to begin shutting down on-site, in-person services (like libraries), the university offered training sessions on working from home.Footnote 2 But most notable is that initially the shutdown was scheduled for just a few weeks. Fourteen months later and I have only been back in my office at the university a few times since the shutdown. Even so, life goes on, and so does the IJLI.
In this issue, we have three excellent feature articles focusing on three very different parts of the world: Nigeria, India, and Australia. The first article is by Kamoru Taiwo Lawal, who writes about Nigeria's inadequate electricity generation and supply. He examines the source of the problem, and looks for ways that the law might assist in getting to a solution. Lawal argues that Nigeria needs to “vigorously pursue its renewable electricity objectives through a law dedicated to encouraging uptake of renewable energy.” Lawal's article examines the law and policy of Nigeria's sustainable electricity drive through a critique of the country's applicable law and energy policy in light of Nigeria's renewable electricity objectives. This is an important article that connects aspects of an important part of the developing world, renewable energy, and legal and policy solutions to energy shortages.
The second article is a bit of a departure from what we usually publish in the IJLI. Co-authors Sugam Sharma and Reema Sony combine twenty-first century law librarianship and computer science to suggest how modern legal technology can improve the administration of justice, not just in India, which they use as an exemplar, but all over the world. For this piece, the authors develop a computational framework which they call eLegalls, which is an LI-enabled innovation. Among many other attributes, the eLegalls system facilitates users in filing police reports or complaints to the police in the filers’ geographic jurisdictions. This is accomplished through an efficient and secure interface without any in-person visit. It is during in-person visits where many aspects of the fair and just administration of justice break down. The authors argue that eLegalls can help vulnerable populations avoid unwarranted official denials and other forms of harassment by police official(s) at a police station. The article is an interesting and forward-looking piece sure to form the basis of conversations about the application of legal technology to the real, on-the-ground administration of justice, especially in areas where justice is difficult to find for more vulnerable populations or where the existing system of justice is particularly flawed.
The final article in this issue is by Benedict Sheehy. He argues that legal scholarship in Australia is under-researched; and so he begins to remedy that shortfall with his own detailed empirical investigation. Sheehy claims that it is difficult to understand the characteristics of Australian legal scholarship in terms of topics and methods or approach. To understand and evaluate the scholarship, Sheehy's article adopts an empirical method. Using a case study approach and citation counts, the article provides an analysis of all the articles published by a leading law review over ten years. The article identifies the types and methods of legal scholarship in the journal and examines a sample of its most highly cited articles. The study then evaluates the impact of this scholarship with recommendations for the future.
And, of course, after perusing the pages of these excellent articles, do not forget to examine the Book Reviews, edited by the inestimable Caroline Osborne, and scan the International Calendar for forthcoming opportunities for professional development and engagement, edited by the amazing Amy Flick. These are some of our most enduring and popular features and continually garner some of our most positive feedback. And I know Professor Osborne would like me to add that she is always happy to have new book reviewers to add to her lineup, so please reach out to her if you are interested in dipping your toe into the waters of publishing a bit of your own scholarship!Footnote 3
In closing, I return for a moment to where I began – with a reflection on the truism that the past year has transformed nearly every aspect of our world. Seemingly overnight, the quirky (e.g. wearing hoodie sweatshirts and shorts during Zoom meetings with colleagues; or having a pet in the background for most meetings) became common. Meanwhile, our friends, families, colleagues, and communities have had their lives altered in many important ways —ways that may have long-lasting effects. Living through a global pandemic has created dramatic shifts in our jobs, eating habits, childcare and schooling, and even in our collective sense of time. But life and work do indeed go on. One lesson is certainly true: almost no one has been left untouched after 14 months of such dramatic disruption. A generous dose of empathy and understanding of that truth will make us all stronger as we rebuild and remake our world in the year ahead. And what better way to see how foreign, comparative, and international law continues to evolve and respond to events in the world than in the pages of the IJLI. I hope you enjoy this issue.
Errata
In my Editorial Comment in the previous issue, 48.3, there is a scrivener's error that I need to point out: I mistakenly referred to an author as Aseem Rahni, whereas the correct spelling of his name is Aseem Sahni. My apologies to the author and to readers for any confusion this may have caused.
