Established in 1996, JILFA was among the first student-produced publications that bridged the historical divide between international law and foreign relations. Its subject matter is intentionally broad and links such disciplines as international law, politics, policy, technology, and economics.

JILFA typically publishes one double-issue volume per year: one issue during the fall semester and one issue during the spring semester. Each volume of JILFA is published in print, and physical copies of recent issues are available for purchase online. JILFA is also available digitally on HeinOnline, LexisNexis, and Westlaw as well as through UCLA’s open access repository eScholarship.

Moreover, JILFA hosts academic symposiums on an emerging topic of importance in the realm of international and comparative law. Scholars and practitioners, both domestic and international, are invited to campus to speak in either presentation or panel format on their past accomplishments, present endeavors, and future publications. For more information on the next JILFA symposium, please email our Symposium Director Alexandra Quintana at quintana2026@lawnet.ucla.edu.

UCLA School of Law students serve on JILFA’s Executive and Editorial Boards and function with the support of faculty and administration. Our faculty advisor is Professor Jess Peake at peake@law.ucla.edu. 

Executive Board

• Editors-in-Chief: Benjamin Wu, Charlotte Pettit
• Chief Articles Editors: Jacqueline Diaz, Nathan Smith
• Chief Comments Editors: Minerva Ruda, Jackson Reinhardt
• Chief Managing Editor: Aracely Ruvalcaba
• Chief Production Editor: Ben Gerstein
• Symposium Directors: Cat Washington, Alexandra Quintana

Getting Involved

All students from UCLA School of Law’s JD, LLM, and MLS programs are welcome to apply to JILFA. For more information on how to get involved, please email jilfa@lawnet.ucla.edu with the subject line “Involvement in JILFA”.

JILFA welcomes submissions by scholars, practitioners, and students in the fields of international law and foreign affairs.

Submission Guidelines

To submit an article or comment, please submit it through Scholastica, or email the manuscript to jilfa@lawnet.ucla.edu​. Please include a copy of the curriculum vitae for each author.

JILFA prefers submissions that conform to the following requirements:

• Articles should be between 30-50 pages, including text and footnotes
• Comments should be between 25-35 pages, including text and footnotes
• Submissions should be double-spaced with 1 inch margins
• Footnotes should follow the current edition of The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation
• Submissions should include an abstract of no more than 400 words
• Submissions must not have been previously published

Due to the volume of submissions we receive, we will be in touch only if your Article or Comment is selected for publication.

Selection Process

Our Articles Department reviews submissions from scholars and practitioners, while our Comments Department considers submissions by current students. We typically conduct slating for our Fall issue during August and September, and we typically conduct slating for our Spring issue during January and February. Our departments typically try to send out acceptances within 1-3 weeks of receipt and can provide expedited review upon request.

Any comment submissions from current UCLA School of Law students will be anonymized in the selection process. Please refrain from making any statements to current JILFA members that could jeopardize anonymity in the selection process.

JILFA will email authors if their piece is selected for publication. If an offer is accepted, JILFA will follow up with a licensing agreement and publication timeline within one week.

JILFA’s publication timeline typically takes 3-4 months from slating through publication. Our editing process entails multiple rounds of above-the-line content edits, multiple rounds of below-the-line footnote and citation edits, and a round of production and format edits before publication. Because the Journal’s editorial staff is comprised of full-time law students, all timelines are tentative and may be impacted during finals seasons in December and May as well as summer break.

Please bear in mind that delays in author responses can impact not only JILFA staff but also other authors’ expectations.  Failure to furnish the Journal with reasonably timely responses may result in your article being published in a subsequent issue.