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I am looking for suggestions for a topic on my comment. The journal has an International theme and I am interested in criminal law. Im looking into comparingUS law or something interesting/crim law related such as gangs in other countries.

mjb919 wrote:I am looking for suggestions for a topic on my comment. The journal has an International theme and I am interested in criminal law. Im looking into comparingUS law or something interesting/crim law related such as gangs in other countries.

Without having done anything vaguely resembling a preemption check: if you wrote a comment comparing the potential transnational prosecution of an organization like MS13 (potentially comparing it to previous collaborations on international organized crime), I would read it for fun.

I like the prosecution angle. I looked a bit into MS13 and its impact on countries where the gang members get deported to such as El Salvador. Thanks for the input.

Why international criminal law is illegitimate and antithetical to the rule of law would be a good topic.

mjb919 wrote:I am looking for suggestions for a topic on my comment. The journal has an International theme and I am interested in criminal law. Im looking into comparingUS law or something interesting/crim law related such as gangs in other countries.

My biggest tip is to read a few issues of your journal and see what topics appear to be themes and/or common (feel free to ask the articles editors). Whatever those topics are - stay away from because you won't get published. My journal was a fairly specific topic and one particular section of law made up maybe 75% of the potential topics. The other 25% had a leg up at publishing time.

The other obvious advantage is that a slightly different topic means less likely to be preempted

AreJay711 wrote:Why international criminal law is illegitimate and antithetical to the rule of law would be a good topic.

This. x1000.

anori wrote:

AreJay711 wrote:Why international criminal law is illegitimate and antithetical to the rule of law would be a good topic.

This. x1000.

Yeah but in all seriousness: this type of comment (w/sh)ould have to be brilliant and near-flawless for a nobody law student to get it published. If you have no cred, the academic world could generally give a fuck about your high-fallootin' opinions on big picture jurisprudence.

Nightrunner wrote: Yeah but in all seriousness: this type of comment (w/sh)ould have to be brilliant and near-flawless for a nobody law student to get it published. If you have no cred, the academic world could generally give a fuck about your high-fallootin' opinions on big picture jurisprudence.

This is true. I just hate ICL.

OP, you do want it to be as narrow as possible because any editor will be much more comfortable that you actually have all you bases covered. So, for instance, focusing on the MS13 instead of transnational gangs more broadly like NR indicated. It would be even better if you could focus your analysis on some small set of treaties or certain types of acts that would trigger extradition or whatever. An argument that someone in the MS13 in the US could face trial in El Salvador or a member in El Salvador could be extradited to the US under some kind of conspiracy theory, under a certain treaty, for certain acts -- or not -- is what you'd want to get to after your research.

But if your journal doesn't get many submissions, aim for the moon.

AreJay711 wrote:Why international criminal law is illegitimate and antithetical to the rule of law would be a good topic.

Sorry, can you expand on why it is illegitimate? I'm not sure what you mean by it.

JuTMSY4 wrote: My biggest tip is to read a few issues of your journal and see what topics appear to be themes and/or common (feel free to ask the articles editors). Whatever those topics are - stay away

I have looked in the archive and it seems to be prettu broadly based. There is one about MS13 a few years back so I am going to stay away from that group but other then that theres topics ranging from international real estate development to jurisdiction in the Middle East.

Thanks all for the input. Ive been reading a bunch of ICL blogs trying to find something interesting. Some topics I have been trying to focus on is capital punishment. Maybe something about the effect/influence of public executions v. private executions. Or the different view of the exclusionary evidence rule in the US compared to a less strict coutry such as Canada. My biggest problem so far is finding an issue that is narrow and specific enough to be a novel(ish)comment

mjb919 wrote:I am looking for suggestions for a topic on my comment. The journal has an International theme and I am interested in criminal law. Im looking into comparingUS law or something interesting/crim law related such as gangs in other countries.

I suggest you write about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. IRS expects it will be implemented in 2014. It's gonna be a big deal.

3|ink wrote:

mjb919 wrote:I am looking for suggestions for a topic on my comment. The journal has an International theme and I am interested in criminal law. Im looking into comparingUS law or something interesting/crim law related such as gangs in other countries.

I suggest you write about the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. IRS expects it will be implemented in 2014. It's gonna be a big deal.

Thanks. I'll look into it.

Dude.

PIRATES.

Whether a family persecuted for a family member's gang membership is grounds for asylum is a circuit split and countries around the world vary.

I know that as of fall 2012 this topic was not preempted because I had to research it.

maybe something on human trafficking/international kidnapping?

The only drawback to a comparative law note is dealing with foreign sources -- harder to access, some possibly in languages other than English, etc. Unless you want to rely solely on English-language secondary sources, or use a country that conducts law in English.

If your journal really lets you do comparative law instead of international law, you can do just about anything. Pick a US criminal law or criminal problem, pick a foreign country, and mix. Comparative law scholarship is like the world's least-entertaining madlib.

Scotusnerd wrote:Dude.

PIRATES.

hiima3L wrote:Whether a family persecuted for a family member's gang membership is grounds for asylum is a circuit split and countries around the world vary

I like both of these. Thanks I'll look into them