This would not have been possible without the unfailing support of the Belgian Group of the International Society for Military Law and Law of War, whose Centre of Studies has been responsible for the publication of the Review under the auspices of the International Society. The “umbilical cord” between the Review and the Belgian Group of the Society has existed (unsurprisingly…) ever since the Review came into being. Professor Jacques Leaute, Secretary-General of the Society in 1962, compared the publication of the Review to the launching of a great sailing boat and appeared certain that “le dynamisme de la section belge de la Société internationale et le concours prêté par le ministère belge de la Défense nationale l’aideront à quitter les zones où le vent tombe comme à traverser celles des grains inéluctables”. ² Professor Leaute’s faith was not disproved. Throughout these 58 years, the Belgian Group, with the support of the Belgian Ministry of Defence, has indeed helped the Review sail through both calm waters and violent squalls. The Belgian Group was actively involved in every step of the publication process: from determining the Review’s editorial policy through the Editors-in-Chief, to ensuring the editing, typesetting, publication and distribution of the Review’s volumes. Much energy, effort, personal time and dedication has gone into every step of this process from everyone involved. As a result of these efforts, the Review has grown and developed in size, quality and diversity. And the more the publication of the Review has complexified over the years, the more important the time, effort and energy required have become.

In view of the above, the Belgian Group has decided, in 2020, to confide the technical aspects of the publication of the Review to a professional publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing. Like any departure of a grown-up child from the safety of the parental house, this decision was not taken light-heartedly. We wanted to be sure that the publishing roof that will host the Review from now on would be as supportive as the Belgian Group has been. Indeed, Edward Elgar Publishing has guaranteed that the General Editors, Managing Editor and members of the Editorial Board will remain in charge of the Review’s content, retaining full control of its editorial policy and ensuring the academic quality for which the Review has come to be known. At the same time, the increasingly complex publication, dissemination and advertising tasks will be taken up by a professional publishing house, ensuring maximum efficiency while allowing the Review to pursue its objectives and continue its editorial policy unhindered. In other words, to take up Professor Leaute’s metaphor, new people come on-board to help the sailing ship navigate through calm or violent waters; but its direction stays the same; its captains as well.

In this part of the Review’s journey, readers will be in good company. Tobias Vestner examines the rules applicable to the targeting of members of private military and security companies, pleading for a clarification of their “targetability”. Samuel C. Duckett White critically addresses the view of a soldier as a mere “citizen in uniform” through the lens of Australian Law, namely the 2018 Amendments to the 1903 Defence Act. Jens Claerman focuses on the civilian control exercised over the deployment of the armed forces in Belgium in the context of the anti-terrorist operation “Vigilant Guardian”, while Tokwene A. Ngjokou Eloubwe Ilate offers another critical analysis of a national legislation, namely Cameroon’s military criminal law, decried by the author as allowing too much leeway to military authorities at the expense of human rights. Finally, the last part of this volume contains the report summarizing the contributions presented by the numerous scholars and practitioners that participated at the third “Silent leges inter arma?” conference organized by the Belgian Group of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War, which took place in Bruges from 18 to 20 September 2019.

The volume you are holding in your hands is a historic one: it will be the last one to be published exclusively by the Belgian Group of the International Society of Military law and the Law of War. Let it be a tribute to all the people that have worked so hard for the publication of each past volume: the editorial assistants, the type-setters and the current and past members of the secretariat of the Belgian Centre of Studies of Military Law and the Law of War. They are the ones that made the Review what it is today and it is their work and dedication that Edward Elgar Publishing will have to match from the next volume onwards. While this may not be an easy take, we look forward to what we are certain will be a productive relationship with the Review's new publisher in the years to come.