Max LeValley Vol. 41 Associate Editor The People’s Republic of China is exploiting the ambiguity of its international agreements to violate its citizens’ human rights. China ratified the United Nations Convention Against Torture (“the Convention”) on October 4, 1988 and is thus subject to its prohibitions.[1] Its official policies toward the Xinjiang autonomous region and its inhabitants—most notably the Muslim-minority Uighurs—have recently garnered widespread condemnation, and arguably violated the Convention. 3906

Cameron Mullins Vol. 41 Associate Editor In 2016, following a contentious political process, a peace agreement ended the half-century-long conflict between the Colombian Government and the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC), which claimed over 220,000 lives and displaced nearly seven million people.[1] Yet the election of Ivan Duque, a politician who was notably against the peace process—combined with residual resentment against the ex-FARC militants—is slowly starting to chip away at the peace agreement and

Chaila Fraundorfer  Vol. 41 Associate Editor The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) reviews corporate transactions involving foreign nationals to determine whether they pose a national security threat.[1] One area CFIUS focuses on protecting is critical technologies.[2] If a transaction is deemed dangerous, that is to share critical technologies with foreign nationals, CFIUS will impose sanctions or in some cases, block a transaction from going through entirely.[3] 3899

Ellen Aldin Vol. 41 Associate Editor Canada has a good argument that the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions present in Chapter 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) have disproportionately harmed it. As of January 1, 2018, 48 percent of all NAFTA ISDS claims were lodged against Canada, with a tripling in claims lodged against it after 2005.[1] Of the 17 cases concluded where Canada was a respondent, the government lost eight and

Shubhangi Agarwalla Guest Editor, Legal Assistant to Prof. Dire Tladi at the UN International Law Commission Traditionally, the UN Climate change regime has been premised on an intergovernmental negotiations paradigm where political actors play the dominant role in the development of norms. In this post, I argue for using international adjudication as a supplementary tool to complement international negotiations. Adjudication, which entails the participation of impartial, third-party decision makers, might help us overcome blind spots

Mitchell LaCombe Vol. 41 Associate Editor In recent years, Canada has received multiple complaints from WTO members regarding provincial regulations on wine. Following the United States,[1]  Australia submitted a request for consultations with Canada in January 2018, which alleged that various British Columbia (B.C.), Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia regulations violate the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).[2] In March 2019, the Director-General composed a panel to consider the dispute, which has yet to be

Alexis Haddock Vol. 41 Associate Editor Among the many international organizations lies the powerful purse of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Founded in 1944, the IMF serves to ensure global financial stability[1] through monitoring public and private sector international payments, creating stable exchange rates that allow flexible currency conversions, resolving sovereign debt crises, expanding international trade, and assisting in developing economies by providing loans.[2] However, a seemingly inevitable change quickly approaches the organization: the move

Gabrielle Harwell Vol. 41 Associate Editor Background Transnational crime poses a significant and growing threat to national and international security. As criminal networks expand and diversify, Interpol provides an invaluable tool to combat crime: law enforcement collaboration and data sharing.[1] National Central Bureaus (NCBs) act as the main source of data collection and international collaboration among Interpol member states. Unlike national law enforcement organizations, NCBs are governed by international agreements such as Interpol’s Rules on

Katherine Boothroyd Vol. 41 Associate Editor On Thursday, July 25, 2019, Attorney General William Barr announced that the United States Federal Government would be resuming capital punishment after a nearly twenty-year hiatus.[1] The federal government has not carried out an execution since 2003 due to its inability to obtain the drugs for lethal injections.[2] Since then, the United Nations General Assembly has passed seven resolutions for a moratorium of the use of the death penalty.[3]

Jonathan Blaha Vol. 41 Associate Editor On October 6th, President Trump decided to remove United States military personnel and endorse Turkish operations near the Turkey-Syria border.[1] As the world waits to see the extent of Turkish operations and its effects on Syrian Kurds,[2] ISIS,[3] and the Syrian Democratic Forces,[4] calls for the expulsion of Turkey from NATO have renewed with greater fervor. These calls began with Turkey’s authoritarian slide.[5] and seemingly reached their crescendo after