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26.1
Trademarking Terroir: Geographical Indications as a Form of Cultural Property in the U.S.-EU Trade War
Sara Evans
A.B., Princeton University; J.D. Candidate 2026, The University of Chicago Law School

Many thanks to my family, friends, colleagues on the Chicago Journal of International Law, faculty advisor Professor Jonathan Masur, and former colleagues who introduced me to GIs, IP, and American winemaking during my 21st summer.

I. Introduction

A. Background and Context

Trade Law
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Article
26.1
The Rise of Big Data and the Law of Armed Conflict
Laura A. Dickinson
Lyle T. Alverson Professor of Law, The George Washington University Law School

This Article is adapted from remarks delivered at a symposium entitled “On the Cusp of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: The International Law Perspective” held at the University of Chicago in January 2025. For a far more thorough exploration of the ideas introduced here, see generally Big Data and Armed Conflict: Legal Issues Above and Below the Armed Conflict Threshold (Laura A. Dickinson & Edward W. Berg eds. 2024).

I. Introduction

Law of War and Armed Conflict
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Article
26.1
The Click-and-Commit World Order
Melissa J. Durkee
William Gardiner Hammond Professor of Law, Washington University in Saint Louis

This essay was prepared for a University of Chicago symposium on “Technological Innovation in Global Governance: Measuring Potential to Create, Facilitate, and Destroy.” Thanks to symposium participants for good engagement and feedback, and to the student organizers for developing the event. 

I. Introduction

Environmental Law Institutions
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Article
26.1
From Human Mapping to Machine Embedding: Uncovering Key Legal Drivers and Deterrents of ISDS Filing Frequencies
Sangchul Park
Associate Professor, Seoul National University School of Law

This paper was funded by the 2023 Research Fund of the SNU Law Research Institute, donated by the SNU Law Foundation. I thank the CJIL Editorial Board members for organizing the symposium and for their thoughtful editing of this paper, including Mr. Ian G. Peacock’s suggestion of zero-inflated models. This research project has benefitted from the Microsoft Accelerating Foundation Models Research (AFMR) grant program.

International investment agreements (IIAs), while intended to prop cross-border investment, have faced persistent criticism for potentially undermining the regulatory sovereignty of developing countries. Various mechanisms have been proposed as alternatives to traditional bilateral investment treaty (BIT) models, often with the goal of curbing investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) filings. While existing research has uncovered the impact of nonlegal factors, such as macroeconomic crises, little has been done to systematically examine how legal provisions in either major model BITs or ISDS reform toolboxes influence ISDS filing patterns. To address this gap, this Article analyzes the interplay between (i) legal texts of 2,148 BITs and treaties with investment provisions (TIPs) and (ii) the occurrence of 1,060 ISDS cases. It builds on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s IIA Mapping Project to assess the impact of key legal deterrents recommended by ISDS reform proponents, while leveraging large language models to identify the key legal drivers of ISDS filings. The outcome of Poisson regression appears to reveal that: (i) procedural provisions resembling those in the 2012 U.S. Model BIT are the strongest positive predictors of ISDS filings, outweighing the impact of economic crises, whereas substantive provisions such as investor treatment and expropriation clauses are not; (ii) the effectiveness of deterrent provisions remains inconclusive, suggesting that their ability to curb ISDS filings requires further scrutiny; and (iii) the assumption that IIAs between developed host countries and developing states are more prone to ISDS filings is unsubstantiated. These findings could contribute to ongoing discussions on BIT reform by highlighting the legal determinants of ISDS frequencies, with implications for policymakers seeking to balance investment protection with regulatory autonomy.
Sources and Creation of Law: Treaty, Custom, Jus Cogens, General Principles Trade Law
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Article
26.1
The Law of Armed Conflict – in the Dark
Laurie R. Blank
Clinical Professor of Law and Director, International Humanitarian Law Clinic, Emory University School of Law.

With thanks to The U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School and the Military Law Review, this Essay builds on my remarks for the Sixteenth Annual Waldemar A. Solf and Marc L. Warren Chair Lecture in National Security Law in March 2023 (published as an edited transcript at 231 Mil. L. Rev. 147 (2023)).

I. Introduction

Law of War and Armed Conflict
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Article
26.1
Digital Evidence: Facilitating what and for whom?
Rebecca Hamilton
Rebecca Hamilton is a Professor of Law at American University, Washington College of Law.

The authors would like to thank our colleagues at the Counter Evidentiary Network, colleagues at WITNESS, and partner communities whose courage continue to inspire. Our gratitude also to the editors of the Chicago Journal of International Law.

Adebayo Okeowo
Dr. Adebayo Okeowo is a human rights lawyer and currently serves as the Associate Director of Programs at WITNESS.

The authors would like to thank our colleagues at the Counter Evidentiary Network, colleagues at WITNESS, and partner communities whose courage continue to inspire. Our gratitude also to the editors of the Chicago Journal of International Law.

I. Introduction

Humanitarian/Human Rights Law
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Article
26.1
Satellite Infrastructures and Law in the Making of Planetary Knowledge
Benedict Kingsbury
Vice Dean and Murry and Ida Becker Professor of Law, NYU Law School

Thanks to Moritz Schramm, Katherine Rizkalla, Jingxian Zeng, and Ming Yi for their comments on different iterations of this paper. Thanks also to the excellent Chicago Journal of International Law editors.

Yirong Sun
Research Scholar, NYU Law School

Thanks to Moritz Schramm, Katherine Rizkalla, Jingxian Zeng, and Ming Yi for their comments on different iterations of this paper. Thanks also to the excellent Chicago Journal of International Law editors.

I. Infrastructural Integration of Earth and Space

Aviation, Space, Cyber, Telecommunication, and Property Law
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Article
26.1
Digital Investigations of Systematic and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence: Practice and Possibilities
Alexa Koenig
Research Professor, University of California Berkeley School of Law; Co-Faculty Director, Human Rights Center, UC Berkeley.

The author thanks Ingrid Elliott, Lindsay Freeman, Anthony Ghaly, Gabriel Oosthuizen, Andrea Richardson, and the team at the Chicago Journal of International Law for their feedback on earlier versions of this article. Any errors are, of course, the author’s own.

I. Introduction

Humanitarian/Human Rights Law Monitoring, Enforcement, and Compliance
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Article
26.1
Distinction, Proportionality, and Precautions in Attacks at Sea in the New Era of the Law of Naval Warfare
James Kraska
James Kraska is the Charles H. Stockton Chair of International Maritime Law at the United States Naval War College and Visiting Professor of Law and John Harvey Gregory Lecturer on World Organization at Harvard Law School.

I am grateful to Michael N. Schmitt, Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg, Raul (Pete) Pedrozo, and Nick Kadlec for their generous peer review comments.  

I. Introduction

Law of War and Armed Conflict
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Article
26.1
Technology and the Law of Jus Ante Bellum
Asaf Lubin
Dr. Asaf Lubin is an Associate Professor of Law at Indiana University Maurer School of Law and a Faculty Affiliate of the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He is additionally an Affiliated Fellow at Yale Law School’s Information Society Project, a Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, and a Research Associate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Federmann Cyber Security Research Center.

I am grateful to Rebecca Crootof for the in-depth discussions we had at the outset of this project, which were instrumental in refining my thinking on the subject. I am also grateful to the participants of the Saint Louis University Law Journal Symposium titled “Contemporary Challenges in International Humanitarian Law: Is there Hope for the International Order?” for offering excellent feedback on an earlier draft. In particular I wish to thank Adi Gal, Eric Talbot Jensen, Marco Roscini, Afonso Seixas-Nunes, SJ, and Jennifer Trahan for their valuable insights. I also extend my deep appreciation to the Board of the Chicago Journal of International Law for the opportunity to contribute to this symposium and for their thoughtful feedback and editing. Finally, this symposium has brought together some of the kindest people and sharpest minds currently working at the intersection of international law and technology. It is an incredible privilege to be included among them, and I look forward to engaging with their ideas and contributions in the years to come.

I. Introduction

Humanitarian/Human Rights Law Law of War and Armed Conflict