News


Congratulations to Alyssa Bell, the winner of our first annual Human Rights Student Scholars Writing Competition. Details about the winner, as well as her essay title, can be found here.

Congratulations to our new Managing Board members!

Professor Christopher Bruner's Article from 50:3 wins the Association of American Law Schools 2010 Scholarly Papers Competition.

Professor Sean Watts' Article from 50:2 receives the American Society for International Law 2010 Francis Lieber Military Prize.

Opinio Juris


Authors from Vol. 50:3 to Continue the Scholarly Debate Online with Blog Posts at Opinio Juris 50 No.3

See the 50:2 symposium at Opinio Juris 50 No.2

See the 50:1 symposium at Opinio Juris 50 No.1

See the 49:4 symposium at Opinio Juris 49 No.4

See the 49:3 symposium at Opinio Juris 49 No.3

HRSS Writing Competition

The winner of the first annual UVA Law Human Rights Student Scholars Writing Competition is Alyssa Bell. Alyssa essay was titled “Torturous Intent: Refoulement of Haitian Nationals and U.S. Obligations Under the Convention Against Torture.” Her essay is forthcoming in NYU’s Review of Law and Social Change.

About the 2010 Winner

Alyssa Bell grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, and graduated from Swarthmore College with High Honors in 2003. Before attending law school, she spent time working in legal services and health care policy. In 2005, she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, and completed a study of transnational migration in Spain. In 2007, Alyssa was awarded a Root-Tilden-Kern Scholarship in recognition of her dedication to a career in public service, and attended the New York University School of Law from 2007-2010. At NYU Law, Alyssa was a Senior Articles Editor for the Review of Law and Social Change, a Classroom Diversity Organizer for the Coalition for Legal Recruiting, and a Research Assistant for Professor Clayton Gillette. She spent her summers interning for the Immigration Law Unit of the Legal Aid Society, the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, and the Litigation Department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP. Alyssa will clerk for the Hon. Margaret Morrow of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in the 2010 court term, and she will clerk for the Hon. Richard Paez of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the 2011 court term.

About the Competition

The Competition is sponsored by the University of Virginia School of Law’s Human Rights Program and the Virginia Journal of International Law. This global competition is designed to encourage student scholarly inquiry into human rights topics and afford emerging student scholars with an opportunity to develop their research and contributions by interacting with Virginia’s preeminent international law faculty.

Each year, the UVA Law Human Rights Student Scholars Writing Competition welcomes all papers relating to human rights law. Entrants are encouraged to view this topic broadly, submitting any work that furthers understanding of a substantive area of human rights law.

The student author of the top paper will receive a cash prize of $500, be featured in an online symposium hosted by VJIL, in partnership with the Opinio Juris blog, and receive expedited consideration for publication in the Virginia Journal of International Law.

Additionally, the winning author will be invited to present his or her paper at a special Human Rights Student Scholars Workshop involving Virginia’s international law faculty, VJIL editors, and Virginia law students.

We accept submissions from J.D., L.L.M., and S.J.D. candidates from both the United States and abroad. Submissions from May 2009 graduates will be considered if they were written as part of a law school curriculum. Only one entry per student is permitted. Multiple submissions will result in disqualification.

Papers will be judged on quality of analysis and writing. The judging committee will include members of Virginia’s law faculty and VJIL editors. We will begin accepting submissions for the second annual competition in Fall 2010. For competition submissions guidelines, please see the guidelines page.