Justice Robert H. Jackson Award

The Justice Robert H. Jackson Award is North America’s premier competition dedicated to the recognition of outstanding student works addressing topics of international or comparative law.   The award is given in honor of Justice Robert H. Jackson, a former U.S. Supreme Court Justice, who pioneered much of the current thinking on the use of international law as it applies to war and crimes against humanity. 

About Justice Robert H. Jackson

Robert H. Jackson (1892-1954) was a leading American lawyer, judge, writer and life of the 20th century. He served as a United States Supreme Court Justice from 1941 until 1954. During 1945-46, Justice Jackson was the architect of the international trial process and then the chief prosecutor of the surviving Nazi leaders at Nuremberg, Germany.  Learn more.

Apply or Nominate a Student

Each year the Society invites select journals to submit one piece of published student scholarship addressing of topic of international or comparative law. The author of the most outstanding submission will receive a $2,500 cash prize and an expense-paid trip to Washington, DC to attend the WFLS Annual Dinner Gala to accept a testimonial prize on behalf of the publishing journal.

The Washington Foreign Law Society is inviting the following leading publications to submit qualifying entries for the Justice Robert H. Jackson Award:

American University International Law Review
Berkeley Journal of International Law
Boston College International & Comparative Law Review
Boston University International Law Journal
Chicago Journal of International Law
Columbia Journal of Transnational Law
Cornell International Law Journal
Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law
Emory International Law Review
Fordham International Law Journal
George Washington International Law Review
Georgetown Journal of International Law
Global Studies Law Review (Washington University)
Harvard International Law Journal
Hastings International and Comparative Law Review
The International Lawyer
McGill Law Journal
Michigan Journal of International Law
North Carolina Journal of International Law & Commercial Regulation
Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business
NYU Journal of International Law & Politics
Queen’s Law Journal
Stanford Journal of International Law
Texas International Law Journal
Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems (Iowa)
Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law
UCLA Journal of International Law and Foreign Affairs
University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Economic Law
University of Toronto Law Journal
Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law
Virginia Journal of International Law
Wisconsin International Law Journal
Yale Journal of International Law
Minnesota Journal of International Law

Previous Jackson Award Winners

Year Winning Author School Title & Cite
2004 Harlan Cohen NYU School of LawClass of 2003 “The American Challenge to International Law: A Tentative Framework for Debate,” 28 Yale J. Int’l L. 551 (2003)
2005 Doug M. Keller The University of  Texas Law SchoolClass of 2005 “Interpreting Foreign Law through an Erie Lens: A Critical Look at United States v. McNab,” 40 Texas Int’l L. J. 157 (2004)
2006 Andowah Newton Cornell Law SchoolClass of 2007 “Injecting Diversity into U.S. Immigration Policy: The Diversity Visa Program and the Missing Discourse on its Impact on African Immigration to the United States,” 38 Cornell Int’l L. J. 1049 (2005)
2007 Robert Lyman University of Virginia School of LawClass of 2006 “Compulsory Process in a Globalized Era: Defendant Access to Mutual Legal Assistance Treaties,” 47 Virginia J. Int’l L. 261 (2006)