The trustees present their report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2020.
The objects of the charity are to advance education in the field of international law by making grants towards charitable activities connected with scholarship, by the publication and dissemination of academic journals for the benefit of the public and by such other exclusively charitable means as the board shall in their absolute discretion determine.
During the year the company received annual royalty income. The next year should see the continued receipt of royalty income with little expenditure in order to build up the company’s capital. The journal continued to encourage and facilitate active discussion of key issues concerning international law and global governance and maintained its position as perhaps the leading journal in its field.
As stated above, the charity's reserves policy is to build up the capital by incurring minimal expenditure costs.
The trustees have assessed the major risks to which the charity is exposed, and are satisfied that systems are in place to mitigate exposure to the major risks.
The European Journal of International Law Limited is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity governed by its memorandum and articles of association. Charity number: 1087973. Company number: 4127150. The charity is a company limited by guarantee and has no share capital. The liability of each member in the event of winding-up is limited to £1.
The trustees, who are also the directors for the purpose of company law, and who served during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were:
Public Benefit
The charity's published journals in the European Journal of International Law are available to the general public, and as such this qualifies as a public benefit.
The trustees' r eport was approved by the Board of Trustees.
The trustees, who are also the directors of The European Journal of International Law for the purpose of company law, are responsible for preparing the Trustees' Report and the financial statements in accordance with applicable law and United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).
Company Law requires the trustees to prepare financial statements for each financial year which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the charity and of the incoming resources and application of resources, including the income and expenditure, of the charitable company for that year.
In preparing these financial statements, the trustees are required to:
- select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
- observe the methods and principles in the Charities SORP;
- make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; and
- prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the charity will continue in operation.
The trustees are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.
I report to the trustees on my examination of the financial statements of The European Journal of International Law (the charity) for the year ended 31 December 2020.
As the trustees of the charity (and also its directors for the purposes of company law) you are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (the 2006 Act).
Having satisfied myself that the financial statements of the charity are not required to be audited under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report in respect of my examination of the charity’s financial statements carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act) . In carrying out my examination I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act.
I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect:
accounting records were not kept in respect of the charity as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act; or
the financial statements do not accord with those records; or
the financial statements do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of the 2006 Act other than any requirement that the accounts give a true and fair view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination; or
the financial statements have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended Practice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102).
Activities for generating funds
The statement of financial activities includes all gains and losses recognised in the year.
All income and expenditure derive from continuing activities.
All income and expenditure is of an unrestricted nature.
The European Journal of International Law Limited is a company limited by guarantee incorporated in England and Wales, and a registered charity governed by its memorandum and articles of association. The registered office is 264 Banbury Road, Oxford, OX2 7DY.
Every member of the company undertakes to contribute to the assets of the company, in the event of a winding up, such an amount as may be required not exceeding £1.
The accounts have been prepared in accordance with the charity's memorandum and articles of association, the Companies Act 2006 and “Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland (FRS 102)” (as amended for accounting periods commencing from 1 January 2016). The charity is a Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102.
The charity has taken advantage of the provisions in the SORP for charities applying FRS 102 Update Bulletin 1 not to prepare a Statement of Cash Flows.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling , which is the functional currency of the charity. Monetary a mounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention. The principal accounting policies adopted are set out below.
At the time of approving the financial statements, the trustees have a reasonable expectation that the charity has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future. Thus the trustees continue to adopt the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the financial statements.
Funds held by the charity are all of an unrestricted general nature which can be used in accordance with the charitable objectives at the discretion of the trustees.
Resources expended are included in the Statement of Financial Activities on an accruals basis, inclusive of VAT which cannot be recovered.
Tangible fixed assets are initially measured at cost and subsequently measured at cost or valuation, net of depreciation and any impairment losses.
Depreciation is recognised so as to write off the cost or valuation of assets less their residual values over their useful lives on the following bases:
Cash and cash equivalents include cash in hand, deposits held at call with banks, other short-term liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less, and bank overdrafts. Bank overdrafts are shown within borrowings in current liabilities.
The charity has elected to apply the provisions of Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instruments Issues’ of FRS 102 to all of its financial instruments.
Financial instruments are recognised in the charity's balance sheet when the charity becomes party to the contractual provisions of the instrument.
Financial assets and liabilities are offset, with the net amounts presented in the financial statements, when there is a legally enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.
Transactions in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at the rate of exchange ruling at the date of transaction.
In the application of the charity’s accounting policies, the trustees are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
Activities for generating funds
Office Recharges
Book Editing Costs
EJIL: Talk! Blog Expenses
Meeting Expenses
Computer and Website Costs
Sundry Costs
Examiners remuneration
There were no expenses reimbursed to trustees in the year (2019: £Nil).
There were no employees during the year (2019: Nil).
There were no disclosable related party transactions during the year (2019 - none).