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It’s that time of year again – we’re launching the UKSC Blog’s annual essay competition, this year in conjunction with the Supreme Court and The Guardian.
We’re looking for entries of up to 1,000 words in answer to either of the following questions:
1. Judging the constitution: What role should the UKSC play in determining the constitutional law of the UK?
or
2. Rogue justice: Do we need more or fewer dissenting voices in the UKSC?
The competition is open to anyone studying an undergraduate or post-graduate degree at a UK university, and short-listed entries will be judged by recently retired Supreme Court Justice Lord Brown of Eaton-under-Heywood.
First prize is:
- publication of your essay on the UKSC Blog;
- publication of your essay on The Guardian’s website;
- one week’s work experience at Olswang LLP, with an opportunity to shadow Hugh Tomlinson QC and visit the Guardian offices;
- an iPad mini; and
- £250 in cash.
Selected runners up will also have their essays published on the UKSC Blog.
Entries should be in a “blog” style and should be sent to the Editors by 5pm on Friday 26th April 2013.
For the full rules, please click here.
24 comments
Chris McKee said:
01/03/2013 at 10:31
Does eligibility extend to BPTC graduates?
Cathryn Hopkins, Olswang said:
01/03/2013 at 11:39
Yes, the competition is open to students on either the BPTC and LPC.
Chris McKee said:
02/03/2013 at 19:17
And to those who have completed the BPTC but not yet obtained pupillage?
Laura Sandwell said:
04/03/2013 at 14:25
Sorry Chris – unfortunately entry is open to current students only.
Paul said:
01/03/2013 at 23:34
Hope this isn’t a stupid question; as I don’t blog is “blog” style just a more casual style of writing?
Laura Sandwell said:
04/03/2013 at 09:49
We’re leaving it open to entrants to decide what they’d think is appropriate for the blog, but generally it means an entertaining, non-academic style.
Jemma Snow said:
02/03/2013 at 01:08
Is it open to Open University law students?
Laura Sandwell said:
04/03/2013 at 09:47
Yes – that’s fine. The rules state that the competition is open to all students in all disciplines studying at a UK tertiary institution.
Sophie Temple said:
04/03/2013 at 14:42
Is there a stipulated email address to send your work or can it simply be to any one of the editors as seen on your website?
Laura Sandwell said:
04/03/2013 at 14:52
Please send all entries to editors@ukscblog.com – thanks.
Arshia said:
04/03/2013 at 17:01
Are sixth form students eligible for participation in this essay competition?
Sophie Lalor-Harbord, Olswang said:
04/03/2013 at 19:57
Sorry, the competition is for University students only
Naasira said:
08/03/2013 at 19:10
Is someone doing LLB with the University of London International Programmes eligible, not living in UK?
Thanks in advance.
Anthony Fairclough said:
11/03/2013 at 11:15
The competition is open to anyone studying at a UK university. However, some students may not be able to participate in the work experience element of the prize – see here
Paul Walker said:
09/03/2013 at 01:39
Hi,
Is it possible to obtain more information on the style? Should the essay be more formal with full case citations or is it more like an article you find in a magazine, e.g. The Economist?
Regards
Paul
Anthony Fairclough said:
11/03/2013 at 08:28
We’re leaving it open to entrants to decide what they’d think is appropriate for a blog – do take a look at the things already published.
We will edit any published entries into our house style. We would appreciate neutral citations for any cases referred to, however.
Anthony Fairclough said:
13/03/2013 at 08:38
The competition is open to anyone studying at an undergraduate or postgraduate level at a UK university.
Alfonso Encinas said:
23/03/2013 at 09:29
Two questions:
(1) I hold a foreign undergraduate law degree (though also an LLM in Comparative Law), and I’m currently a Law PhD student at a UK university. Am I eligible?
(2) Does the word limit include footnotes, and are we expected to use them, considering the “blog-style” format?
Anthony Fairclough said:
25/03/2013 at 09:58
Alfonso – (1) please see my answer of 11/03/2013 at 11:15, above.
(2) please see my answer of 11/03/2013 at 08:28, above.
Zara Mohamed said:
24/10/2015 at 22:06
Is the competition running in 2015?
Anthony Fairclough said:
25/11/2015 at 08:39
Hi Zara, no the competition is not running this year.