MJIL Blog

Olivia Gulley On January 31, 2020, The United Kingdom officially left the European Union.[1] During Withdrawal Agreement negotiations between the UK and the EU, the Northern Ireland Protocol—a trade agreement involving the goods crossing the board between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland—was created.[2] The Northern Ireland Protocol has been a source of tension…

Ian Johnson On January 28th, 2023, the United States identified an object entering United States’ airspace near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.[1] By Tuesday, January 31st, the object had drifted through western Canada and re-entered US territory near Idaho.[2] By the next day, February 1st, the object had made it further east, above Montana.[3]  This grabbed the…

Hannah Grayson All the news has been talking about in the past couple of weeks has been the Chinese spy balloon flying over the length of the continental United States.[1] Secretary of State Antony Blinken calls the balloon a “clear violation” of international law.[2] But, in what way is it a violation of international law?…

Matthew Cline Trade and human rights have an intertwined relationship, as human rights often influence the prevalence, scope, or availability of an international trade agreement. Most of the world’s economically dominant countries use human rights language in their trade agreements. Human rights have permeated so much into trade that over 75% of the world’s governments…

Elena Macomber In 2002, the Rome Statute came into force and operations at the International Criminal Court (ICC) commenced.[1] With the twentieth-century backdrop of two world wars and massive ethnic violence, both individuals and states were motivated to create a permanent and universal body to prosecute systemically violent crimes against human beings.[2] While the Court…

Dominic Detwiler In August of 2022, President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law, which the administration claims was part of “the most aggressive climate action in U.S. history”[1] and would move the country forward in the President’s “goal that at least 50 percent of all new passenger cars and light trucks sold…

Maria Pfister What is the agreement? Last month, over 190 countries signed a new agreement to protect global biodiversity.[1] The agreement, titled the “Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework,” was the end result of a nearly two-week conference, the 15th United Nations Biodiversity Conference of the Parties (“COP15”), held in Montreal and co-hosted by Canada and…

Harrison LeFrois After widespread coverage of the 27th United Nations’ (“UN”) Climate Conference of the Parties (“COP27”) held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in November, 2022,[1] there is more hopeful environmental news to share. The 15th UN Biodiversity Conference (“COP15”) was held in Montreal, Canada from December 7 through December 19, 2022.[2] The Biodiversity Conferences were…

Connor Smith In  February 2022, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) ended the “China Initiative,”  an effort launched in November 2018 by then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to identify and prosecute Chinese spies who had purportedly infiltrated American research institutions—both public and private.[1] The China Initiative sought to combat industrial espionage and theft of intellectual property, though…

Ali Casey Vanilla is a spice that is enjoyed across the globe. Madagascar, an island country located off the southeastern coast of Africa, produces around 75 to 80 percent of the world’s natural vanilla.[1] Moreover, vanilla is Madagascar’s leading agricultural export.[2] Madagascar vanilla beans are considered the “gold standard” of quality vanilla beans because of…