Posts by MJIL

Alec Casey The presence of mercenaries in modern conflicts has garnered media attention. From Blackwater in Iraq to the Wagner Group in Ukraine, mercenaries have become a ubiquitous presence in 21st century conflicts.[1] This raises important questions—What does international law have to say about mercenaries? Have state actors and other entities actually respected the law…

Noah Richardson In 1927, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, wrote the opinion in Buck v. Bell that upheld Virginia’s forced sterilization law.[1] The statute, one of several that had been passed in states across the country, was part of a larger movement aimed at eradicating undesirable traits from…

Emily Seitz The European Union (“EU”) presented the European Green Deal in December of 2019.[1] The European Green Deal consists of various policy instruments that will be used with the goal of creating a more sustainable European economy in areas like energy, agriculture, and industry.[2] The hope for the European Green Deal is to make…

Laura Reyes, University of Minnesota Law Volume 34 Editor-in-Chief “We can arrest anyone we want,” a Salvadoran law enforcement officer remarked to a mother after detaining her son.[1] As of February 2024, more than 76,000 people—nearly two percent of the Salvadoran population—have been detained, imprisoned under inhumane conditions,[2] and are awaiting trial in El Salvador.…

Tracking International Tax Avoiders, Brooke Meister Tax season is coming up for US based taxpayers and while the subject of tax is often the pinnacle of boredom for many, it is of vital importance to nearly every important topic that individuals and governments of all levels interact with. While tax itself can be a snooze,…

The ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia, which escalated with Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the recent invasion of Ukraine in 2022, has raised significant questions about the effectiveness and enforceability of international law. This blog post will examine the legal issues surrounding the conflict and their implications for the international legal system.…

International Adjudication vs. Judicial Remedies, Abirami Swaminath   The foremost authority on international law is the International Court of Justice (ICJ). However, the various networks within the United Nations, including the treaties and charters that different nations have signed into, govern many fields of international law before the issue is handed to the ICJ. By…

        The Ethiopia-Somaliland Naval Base Deal Is a Violation of International Law Aman Obsiye   On January 1, 2024, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Republic of Somaliland – an unrecognized secessionist region within the Federal Republic of Somalia.  The MOU grants Ethiopia twenty kilometers…

Wendy Erickson The United Nations is in the process of negotiating a landmark global cybercrime treaty, which if adopted, will be the first binding U.N. instrument on cybercrime. The treaty has the backing of Russia, China and a number of other countries. Negotiations over the scope and content of the treaty have been dominated by…

Jacob Vander Weit Accounts of hostility and contention between Greece and Turkey over the Aegean Sea have been recorded since the dawn of western literature.[1] Recent tensions between these two powers are once again rising, with both countries threatening the possibility of war.[2] Among many, one controversy of the most recent dispute regards Greece’s contested…