It is our special privilege to introduce this inaugural issue of a new regional peer-reviewed human rights journal, the East European Yearbook on Human Rights. The journal is focusing on human rights discourse in the Eastern European area, but situating this in the broader context of worldwide problems and developments in the area of human rights. Eastern European states have all undergone a transition from state socialism to liberal democracy. While the problems of transition vary from country to country, there are also joint concerns that have had to be addressed in each of the states. The journal is a venue to explore both shared and disparate experiences in relation to human rights, and it can be a valuable source of insight for scholars conducting research into other transition situations. Needless to mention, in difficult times globally, several doctrines of human rights, which have gained the status of universality, are challenged not only from margins but also from within the European human rights architecture. Academic attention to these issues and balanced discussion is the best, if not the only, way to explore various paths for overcoming these challenges and ‘restore’ to human rights the status of a pillar of European democratic societies.

The new journal aims to position itself both as a channel for Eastern European scholars to publish on regional and wider human rights issues, and for authors from other regions to provide their input on human rights issues that are particularly relevant in the Eastern European setting. This Eastern European focus is unique to the East European Yearbook on Human Rights and will be a valuable addition to a plethora of already established human rights publications. Additional value is provided by the two journal sections that will offer overviews and analysis of regional human rights practice and literature, which aim to become an important resource for both the human rights academic research community and human rights activists and civil society in general.

We are very pleased to present in this inaugural issue articles by well-known scholars from the area of human rights, and reports offering current information and reflections on human rights developments in several countries of the region. We are honoured to recognize the 10 members of the Advisory Board, whose guidance has been valuable along the way since the idea of the journal was first introduced.

We will continue to work with the Advisory Board and current and future authors to establish the East European Yearbook on Human Rights as a source of information and reflections, which is a must in any human rights library; and which will soon find its place among the most cited journals on human rights in Europe.

With best wishes from Rijeka, Toruń and Tallinn,

Mart Susi, Editor-in-Chief
Vesna Crnić-Grotić, Editor
Michał Balcerzak, Editor