Minnesota Journal of International Law

The Minnesota Journal of International Law is a student-led publication at the University of Minnesota Law School. We aspire to be a leader in the multidisciplinary study of international and comparative law. The Journal annually publishes two print volumes and one online edition.

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MJIL Blog

International Human Rights Legal Compliance Must Be At the Center of Multilateral Regulation of Commercial Spyware

April 25, 2025

Micah Winters It’s been less than four years since a journalistic coalition dubbed “the Pegasus Project” upended the preexisting global paradigm of digital rights and surveillance technology by documenting the incredible and chilling scope of remotely-directed state surveillance of the devices of journalists, activists, and political dissidents via a novel commercial technology, spyware.[1] The use […]

Is Wealth Taxation the Solution to Growing Economic Inequality?

April 21, 2025

Nisat Chowdhury People all around the world are starting to pay more attention to the growing gap between the super-rich and everyone else.[1] The COVID-19 pandemic definitely made things worse, helping the wealthiest get even richer while leaving the rest of society behind.[2] This has sparked a lot of worry about inequality, and one idea […]

Expressive Law and the European Years

April 18, 2025

River Campbell The European Union (“EU”) straddles an awkward juxtaposition. On the one hand, the EU poses as the figurehead for continental governance in Europe. On the other, its scope of authority remains narrow, and it possesses no substantial mechanism for enforcement of many areas of law. Thus, the question arises: How does the EU […]

Calling It What It Is: The Definitional Deficiencies of Genocide and the Argentine Paradigm

April 15, 2025

Alex Mysler            What counts as a genocide? Does it matter what we consider genocide if we still recognize the fact that something is an atrocity?            The debate over the breadth or narrowness of the definition of the term “genocide” shows that there is some importance […]

Chaos in the Caucasus: Georgia’s Shift Towards Authoritarianism Threatens Global Democracy

April 11, 2025

Grace Begley While Americans deal with political chaos at home, a country on the other side of the world has fallen into severe turmoil. Tensions are high in the Eurasian country of Georgia after lawmakers elected a far-right former soccer star as president and implemented several authoritarian and pro-Russia policies.[1] Georgia, which gained independence from […]

The Use of Commercial AI Services in War Spotlights the Urgency in Implementing International Regulations on Military AI Applications

April 8, 2025

Paulo Frank Artificial Intelligence (AI) has rapidly transformed methods of operation and has vastly augmented capabilities across numerous domains over the last few years.[1] An area of particularly salient concern is the encroachment of AI applications into military operations. In both the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine conflicts, drones equipped with AI technology have seen widespread […]

Canada’s UNDRIP Implementation Act: Binding or Just an Interpretive Tool?

April 4, 2025

Jake Oberg In 2021, Canada passed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (“UNDRIP Act”).[1] The act requires that Canada make sure its laws “are consistent with” the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (“UNDRIP”).[2] This act stands out given the fact that Canada was one of the […]

Fighting Words: Bill 96 and the Rights of Minority Language Speakers in Québec

March 27, 2025

Colin Lang In 2022, the provincial government of Québec enacted Bill 96: “An Act respecting French, the official and common language of Québec.”[1] Bill 96 amended Québec’s Charter of the French Language and ushered in sweeping reforms to Québec`s official language policy, with the ultimate goal of making French the primary language of all business […]

“A Legal Black Hole”: The Uncertainty Underpinning Trump’s January 29th Executive Order Expanding Migrant Operations at Guantanamo Bay

March 20, 2025

Halle Busch On January 29, 2025, less than a month into his second presidential term, President Donald Trump issued a memorandum titled “Expanding Migrant Operations Center At Naval Station Guantanamo Bay To Full Capacity.”[1] The memo, issued by the White House, directed the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Homeland Security to expand capacity […]

“Shame Must Change Sides”: How One Woman’s Bravery Shook the World

February 27, 2025

Abbey Jordahl **Trigger warning: this post includes extremely graphic content related to sexual assault.** “Shame must change sides.”[1] With just four words, Gisèle Pélicot rocked the world with her unfathomable bravery. For almost a decade, she endured a shocking nightmare, one that was orchestrated by the person she should have been able to trust the […]