Federalism, Treaty Norms, and the U.N. Report on American Education

Professor Jorge Barrera-Rojas

The Notre Dame Journal of International and Comparative Law is honored to feature Professor Jorge Barrera-Rojas as he concludes his tenure as Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Notre Dame Law School. Native from Chile, and now serving as an Olin-Searle Fellow and Associate Research Scholar in Law at Yale Law School, Professor Barrera-Rojas has distinguished himself as a scholar of constitutional and human rights law, with prior appointments at the University of Chile, University San Sebastián, and as a non-resident Fellow at the Stanford Law School Constitutional Law Center. His published and forthcoming work in the Illinois Law Review, Washington & Lee Law Review, and George Washington International Law Review reflects a sustained commitment to comparative constitutional design, education law, and the interaction between state authority and individual freedom. His work at Notre Dame’s Church, State & Society Program has exemplified the intellectual rigor and moral clarity that define the best traditions of the academy. While at Notre Dame, he also served as the Assistant Symposium Chair for the Notre Dame Journal of International and Comparative Law (JICL).

Before moving to Yale Law School, Professor Barrera-Rojas offered an incisive contribution to the journal: Federalism, Treaty Norms, and the U.N. Report on American Education. This article delivers a systematic analysis of the April 2025 report, exposing its procedural and doctrinal shortcomings while situating it within enduring debates on federalism, subsidiarity, and parental liberty. It is a fitting testament to Professor Barrera-Rojas’s commitment to principled scholarship and comparative legal inquiry. After Yale, he will be going the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minnesota as a tenure track professor of law.

Download his article here.