MJIL Blog

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 […]

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

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

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

Maggie Rogers In October 2024, Italy passed a bill that criminalizes surrogacy for Italian residents, no matter where the surrogacy is performed.[1] Surrogacy on Italian soil has been illegal since 2004,[2] but this new law makes it a universal crime,[3] a designation typically reserved for crimes against humanity. Giorgio Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, justified

Candace Dasanna Between 2002 and 2020 approximately half a million noncitizens were deported from the United States for drug offenses, many of which involved only minor charges.[1] These deportations were carried out under the Immigration and Nationality Act[2] (hereinafter “the INA” or “the Act”), which mandates deportability for individuals convicted of almost any controlled substance

Sarah Grosse Perdekamp The first juvenile court in the world was established in the United States, in Cook County, Illinois, in 1899.[1] This and other reforms were an outgrowth of the “child savers” movement of the late 19th century.[2] The movement’s legal implications were significant and shifted the focus of the juvenile justice system from

Sarah Wlazlo Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) is one of the hottest topics in collegiate sports currently. With House v. NCAA slowly reaching its settlement and the National Labor Relations Board coming to decisions on employment status for student-athletes regarding NIL deals, the grey area of money-making ventures has never been broader.[1] This is no

Megan Johnson In October 2024, Australia’s Northern Territory government passed legislation to lower the age of criminal responsibility from 12 years-old to 10 years-old.[1] This change in law makes it so that children between the ages of 10 and 14 can be held criminally responsible if the prosecution is able to prove that the child

Daisy Geng Who actually “owns” the Moon, asteroids, or even a plot on Mars? The idea of claiming space territory may sound like science fiction, but it’s becoming a very real challenge in international law. Today, the private sector is leading the charge, with companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and emerging asteroid mining firms eyeing