Application Deadline: 31st of October 2016.
The Commonwealth Legal Education Association CLEA is pleased to announce the fifth Commonwealth Law Students Essay Competition. On this occasion, the essay title is as follows:
2016 Essay Title
To what extent is it true to claim that the fundamental principles embodied in the Magna
Carta are just as significant today as they were in 1215, since they are the foundation of
constitutional provisions relating to the rule of law and democracy in most parts of the world, especially the Commonwealth?
Essay Competition Rules
- The competition is open to any of the students on undergraduate degree in law at a
Faculty/School of Law or equivalent institution in a Commonwealth country. - Eligibility shall be determined by the essay coordinators whose decision shall be final
and conclusive - Students of both full-time and part-time degree programmes are eligible.
- All entries must address the topic of this year’s competition and not exceed 2,500 words
(excluding footnotes and bibliography). - The essay must be an original piece of work free of any plagiarism. No essay should
have been previously submitted or shortlisted in any previous essay competition. The
essay must not have been be previously published either in full or part. - All entries must be in English and must be presented formally acknowledging sources
with footnotes and references in one of the accepted styles such as OSCOLA or Harvard
for legal essays and a bibliography. - Entries must be in electronic form as a word document. Footnotes should be placed at
the foot of the page, not at the end of the text. Please make sure that the essay can
easily be opened as a Word document and does not have any restrictions placed on it in
terms of access. The text should be in Arial 12 font, 1.5 line spacing and the footnotes in
subscript. - The entry should have a cover page giving:
i. The Entrant’s full name
ii. Postal address and email address
iii. The course of study and the name and address of the institution
iv. The word count of the essay ( excluding footnotes and bibliography) - The judges will be particularly looking for:
i. Originality of ideas
ii. Feasibility of outcomes
iii. Depth of research and analysis
iv. The use of comparative Commonwealth materials
v. Logical structure
vi. Literary merit of materials used
vii. Good presentation - Each entry must be accompanied by an entry form and a scanned signed copy of a
declaration by the entrant that the essay represents his/her own unaided work. It must
also be accompanied by a similar supporting statement by a teacher or administrator of
the law school of which an entrant is a student, to the effect that he or she satisfies the
criteria for entry. The statement must be stamped with the institution’s stamp. - All entries should be sent by email to the following email address on or before the 31st of October 2016.
Prizes:
1. 1st Prize: £250;
2. 2nd Prize: £100;
3. 3rd Prize: £50
The winning entry will also be published in the Newsletter of the Commonwealth
Legal Education and may also be published in the Journal of Commonwealth Law
and Legal Education.
Further details are available from:
Essay Co-ordinators: mailto:clea.essaycompetition@gmail.com.
For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the Commonwealth Law Students Essay Competition 2016