Call for Papers: Volume 1, Issue 1 (2027), Lex Nomadica: Law in Motion
The Nomadic Law Review invites submissions for its inaugural issue, Volume 1, Issue 1 (Summer 2027), on the theme Lex Nomadica: Law in Motion.
Nomadic law is the law of people, animals, objects and knowledge that will not stay put. It lives in the customary rules of traditional games and the regulations of the federations that organise them; in the crafts, songs and patterns that communities carry with them and that markets, museums and platforms seek to appropriate; in the knowledge that scientists and tradition-keepers exchange; in the tribunals that resolve disputes on the field of play, in the workshop and in the laboratory; and in the lives of those who migrate, are displaced or work from nowhere in particular. The inaugural issue asks how these legal orders are made, how they meet state and transnational law, and how disputes within them are resolved.
We welcome contributions in all sections of the Review on topics including, but not limited to:
- Nomadic sports law: ethnosport and nomadic games; lex nomadica and lex sportiva; field-of-play decisions and expedited procedures; animal athletes, welfare and doping control; the governance of games, festivals and federations;
- Nomadic art law: traditional arts, crafts and cultural expressions; authenticity, attribution and provenance; cultural heritage and intellectual property; mediation of cultural disputes;
- Nomadic science law: science and traditional knowledge; free, prior and informed consent; benefit-sharing; research ethics and the protection of sensitive knowledge;
- Dispute resolution: arbitration, mediation and specialised chambers for ethnosport, ethnoart and traditional knowledge disputes; cultural assessors and expertise; recognition and enforcement of awards;
- Migration and mobility: jurisdiction, sovereignty and statelessness; pastoral communities and the territorial state; digital nomads, remote work and cross-border regulation;
- History and theory: legal pluralism, customary law and the legal traditions of Central Asia and Eurasia.
Articles (8,000 to 15,000 words), Short Articles (3,000 to 8,000 words), Case Notes on judgments, arbitral awards and decisions of sports, cultural and scientific bodies (2,000 to 5,000 words), Conference Reports (1,500 to 3,000 words) and Interviews (2,000 to 5,000 words; please propose an interview to the editors before conducting it).
Key dates- 31 January 2027: deadline for full manuscripts
- April 2027: decisions after double-anonymous peer review
- Summer 2027: publication of Volume 1, Issue 1
Manuscripts must follow the author guidelines and be submitted through this website, choosing the appropriate section. Authors who would like to discuss a proposal in advance are welcome to write to the editors at leonid.shmatenko@hhu.de.
The Review charges no submission or publication fees. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis for subsequent issues.
