International law affects our lives every day and shapes the laws we learn. It is a tool for measuring the quality of our legal system and a crystal ball foretelling how our own system will change. At the Cornell International Law Journal, we place international law in the perspective that it merits.
The Journal is a dynamic publication that specializes in an exciting and important field of law. If you have any questions about the Journal, please feel free to drop by the ILJ Reading Room in Room 2L30 and chat with any of our Board members.
Member Responsibilities
Second- and third-year students perform all editorial functions for the Journal. Editors select articles and notes for publication, communicate with the authors, edit manuscripts for substance and style, and manage the Journal’s financial and administrative affairs. Journal associates complete sourcing, editing, and proving assignments to prepare articles and notes for publication. Associates also write substantially publishable Student Notes on aspects of international law. Each year, approximately six such Student Notes are published in the Journal.Membership Criteria
Membership on the Journal does not require a background in international law. Rather, it calls for having a broad mind capable of seeing connections between local law and the global arena. Students in the J.D. and joint-degree programs are eligible for Journal membership after completing one full year of law school classes. (See below for requirements for transfer, LL.M. and J.S.D. students.) The following are the two ways by which J.D. and joint-degree students entering their second-year this fall may gain admission onto the Journal:- Writing Competition (Composite-on): After spring semester finals, the Journal will host a Writing Competition in conjunction with the Cornell Law Review and the Cornell Journal of Law & Public Policy. At least thirty (30) first-year students will be invited to join the Journal as Associates based on their combined GPA and Writing Competition scores. The GPA and the Writing Competition scores will be weighted equally. Neither has a minimum requirement. Sixty percent (60%) of the Writing Competition score will be derived from the Writing Sample score. Forty percent (40%) of the Writing Competition score will be derived from the Editing Test score.
- Submission of a Note Recommended for Publication in the Journal: Students may also gain admission to the Journal as an Associate by writing a note on a topic of international private or public law, conflict of laws, comparative law, or United States law that has significant international ramifications and that is also recommended to be selected for publication in the Journal by the Note Office. Submission of such Notes must be made according to a deadline set by the Note Office. All deadlines shall be set to ensure that students selected for membership through this process will have sufficient time left at Cornell Law School to substantially fulfill any and all Associate elevation requirements and other Journal membership duties.