The International Enforcement Law Reporter is a monthly print and online journal covering news and trends in international enforcement law.
Since September 1985, the International Enforcement Law Reporter has analyzed the premier developments in both the substantive and procedural aspects of international enforcement law. Read by practitioners, academics, and politicians, the IELR is a valuable guide to the difficult and dynamic field of international law.
On November 25, 2025, International Rights Advocates, a D.C.-based anti-forced labor advocacy group, filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming the company engages in deceptive marketing of its products by concealing minerals in its supply chain linked to conflict and human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
On January 28, 2026, the Ecuador Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced it had made a formal diplomatic complaint with the United States (U.S.) after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent tried to enter the Ecuadorian consulate in Minneapolis without permission.
In a prisoner swap facilitated on January 8, 2026, Russia and France agreed to release an imprisoned French researcher in exchange for the return of a detained Russian basketball player, in an uncommon display of bilateral relations between the two countries.
In late September 2025, the State of Rio de Janeiro initiated an anti-wildlife trafficking operation that rescued over 800 wild animals. The animal rescue mission, known as Operation São Francisco, led to over forty arrest warrants and 270 searches.
On January 12, 2026, the New York Times revealed that the United States Department of Defense (DOD) used a secret aircraft painted to appear as though it was a civilian plane in the first attack on September 2, 2025, resulting in the deaths of eleven persons on board.
On January 21, 2026, the European Parliament adopted its resolution addressing impunity through European Union (EU) sanctions, including the EU Global Human Rights sanctions regime (so-called “EU Magnitsky Act”).
On December 9, 2025, the counsel for the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a brief informing the United States Supreme Court that it was dismissing the criminal case against Hernán Lopez, who was convicted on one count of conspiring to commit honest-services wire fraud.
On January 21, 2026, the United States (U.S.) Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it gained custody of thirty-seven fugitives from Mexico who are defendants in federal criminal cases around the U.S. The charges included narcoterrorism, providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, firearms trafficking, human smuggling, money laundering, and several drug trafficking offenses, including conspiracy to traffic methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine.
We at the IELR send you best wishes for the new year. 2025 was momentous for the international enforcement community, and we are grateful to have had you following along with our coverage during our 40th year of discussing international enforcement developments.
On January 8, 2026, the French financial prosecutors announced that British-based bank HSBC had agreed to pay a €267.5 million fine to settle criminal charges concerning an alleged dividend tax fraud, which a Paris court has approved.
