Call for Papers
Call for Papers: Minnesota Journal of International Law
Spring 2027 Special Edition of Lex Specialis
Judicial Responses to State Violence: Comparative Perspectives on Accountability
Submission Guidelines
The Minnesota Journal of International Law is accepting submissions for a special edition of our digital supplement, Lex Specialis. The supplement will contribute to comparative scholarship on the role of courts, tribunals, and judges in strengthening accountability for state actors engaged in human rights violations. Articles must be 3,000 – 8,000 words.
Submission Deadline: August 31, 2026. Submissions will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Submit to: mjil@umn.edu
Article Content and Style
The Spring 2027 edition of the Journal’s new digital supplement, Lex Specialis, will feature comparative scholarship focused on how courts, tribunals, and judges respond to human rights violations by state actors. We seek contributions to our Journal that identify opportunities to hold state actors accountable for committing serious human rights violations and analyze how such claims are received by judicial bodies.
For example, articles could discuss judicially-created doctrines that prohibit harmful state action, re-distribute the balance of power, or allow recovery. Articles could also analyze what judicial bodies require of parties bringing a claim, the kinds of remedies that are granted, or how corresponding political institutions respond.
This special theme responds to the violence by federal agents in Minneapolis as part of Operation Metro Surge beginning in December 2025. While we welcome submissions featuring human rights violations in any context, we are especially interested in judicial responses to violations relating to arbitrary detention, due process, extrajudicial killings, non-refoulement, excessive force, and discrimination.
Articles will be evaluated based on the extent to which they conform to the standards of professional legal writing, are timely or novel in concept, predominantly focus on the themes above, and are adequately supported by sources identified in footnotes. Citations should be in Bluebook form.
Submission Requirements
All articles must be submitted in a single email message to mjil@umn.edu using the subject line “Lex Specialis Submission: [Author Last Name]- [Article Title]” and attached as a Microsoft Word file. The email should also include a short biography of the writer and a two- or three- sentence summary of the article.
Articles must be within the range of 3,000 – 8,000 words, including citations. Articles previously published in any form (including as a law review note) will not be accepted. After publication, authors may reproduce their individual articles and columns online, so long as the Journal is cited.
About the Minnesota Journal of International Law
The Minnesota Journal of International Law publishes two volumes each year, in addition to our digital supplement, Lex Specialis. Lex Specialis is the Journal’s digital supplement that publishes articles in emerging areas of international law. The Journal is a student-led publication at the University of Minnesota Law School and aspires to be a leader in the multidisciplinary study of international and comparative law.
Contact Information
Additional questions may be directed to:
- Alec Boulton, Lead Articles Editor (boult029@umn.edu) or
- Mackenzie Gearin, Editor in Chief (geari019@umn.edu)
