Career Development Office Blog

The Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law (Center) at American University Washington College of Law and the American Society of International Law’s Lieber Society on the Law of Armed Conflict (ASIL) are pleased to announce the Fourth Annual International Humanitarian Law (IHL) Student Writing Competition. The purpose of the Competition is to enhance scholarship in international humanitarian law among students, as well as to deepen their understanding of this important and evolving area of law.

The Competition seeks submissions of academic papers on a particular theme of international humanitarian law (IHL) from students currently enrolled in a law degree program in the United States or abroad. The theme of the 2014 Competition is “International Humanitarian Law and Emerging Technologies.” Papers should focus on the ways in which IHL intersects with emerging technologies such as nanotechnologies, drones, autonomous systems, cyber warfare technologies, etc.

This Competition is part of a multi-pronged initiative to expand and support the teaching and study of IHL among students and professors in which both the Center and ASIL have been deeply involved. In 2007, the Center published a study with the International Committee of the Red Cross on Teaching International Humanitarian Law in US Law Schools. The study identified a growing need for resources to support and expand the teaching of IHL among law faculty, but also a desire to support the interest of students in learning about IHL. The IHL Student Writing Competition promotes and supports student interest and deepening scholarship in IHL by providing students with a tangible way to become more directly involved in the global discourse around IHL. Last year, the Competition received over 40 submissions from 12 different countries.

ELIGIBILITY AND REQUIREMENTS:

1. Students must currently be enrolled, as of February 16, 2014, in a law degree program (J.D., LL.M. or equivalent) at an ABA accredited U.S. law school or foreign law school with an equivalent accreditation. In order to verify enrollment, all submissions must be accompanied by a Confirmation of Enrollment form (to be submitted online along with the paper submission or by mail or fax).

2. Students must submit an unpublished, unedited paper written solely by the candidate in English or translated into English (if written in another language).

3. All submissions must be, in substantial part, on the theme “International Humanitarian Law and Emerging Technologies.” For the purposes of this competition, international humanitarian law means that area of international law that regulates the conduct of armed hostilities or armed conflict. The Organizers reserve the right to determine at their own discretion whether or not submissions fall within the scope of this theme. Submissions that fall outside the scope of this theme will not be considered.

4. The papers must not exceed 25 pages, including footnotes. The body should be double-spaced and written in Times New Roman, font size 12. Footnotes should be single-spaced in Times New Roman, font size 10. All margins should be 1 inch (approximately 2.5 cm) each.

5. Applicants attending law schools the United States must cite their sources according to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation . Applicants attending law schools in countries other than the United States must cite their sources either according to The Bluebook or according to the standard or most commonly used legal citation system in their country.

6. Authors must keep copies of all source materials, i.e., photocopies of all pages used from a particular source, and must provide them to the Organizers upon request.

7. Only one submission will be accepted per student. If the Organizers receive more than one paper, none of the student’s submissions will be considered.

AWARD:

1. The Organizers will grant two awards for the two best papers submitted. The Organizers reserve the right to make one award or no award in the event that the submitted articles presented do not meet the minimum requirements and standards as determined by the Organizers. The Award for the two winning authors will consist of:

a. A one-year student membership with the American Society of International Law;

b. The opportunity to present papers at an virtual conference that will be broadcast on the webpage of the Center for Human Rights & Humanitarian Law; and

c. A certificate confirming that the student has won the 2014 International Humanitarian Law Student Writing Competition.

DEADLINE AND METHOD OF SUBMISSION:

The deadline for submissions is Monday, Februrary 16, 2014, by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time (EST).

Papers should be submitted via email to Microsoft Word attachments. Each person submitting a paper must also fill out and submit a Submission Form (click here to download) and Confirmation of Enrollment (click here to download).

Students will receive an email confirmation that their submission was received no later than 24 hours after the submission deadline and should contact the organizers in the event they do not receive a confirmation email.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

Click here for the terms and conditions of this competition, as well information the method of notification of winners.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

Click here for a list of frequently asked questions and answers.

Every year, the American College of Legal Medicine (ACLM) presents an award for the outstanding original paper on legal medicine. All students studying Medicine, Law, Dentistry, Podiatry, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Science, Healthcare Administration or Public Health are encouraged to compete.

Hirsh Award Winner – $1,000

2nd Prize – $500

3rd Prize – $250

The first place paper will be named the Hirsh Award Winner. In addition, the ACLM will pay the Hirsh Award Winner’s costs of travel and lodging to present his or her paper at the ACLM 2014 Annual Meeting in Dallas, TX.

What is Legal Medicine?

Legal medicine is the professional and academic discipline that concerns itself with legal aspects of medical science, medical practice and other healthcare delivery. Practitioners of the specialty have sufficient training, knowledge and expertise to address the scope of the specialty from a scholarly, scientific and practical perspective. As the subject matter of legal medicine is broad, we are looking for quality papers that cover any aspect of legal medicine.

Applicant Criteria:

1. All authors must have previously achieved a baccalaureate degree or equivalent from an accredited institution and must be currently enrolled in an accredited Law, Medical, Podiatric, Nursing, Dental, Health Science or Healthcare Administration program in the United States or Canada.
2. No paper that has been previously published in any form will be considered; however, papers written for scholarly classes will be allowed as long as they have not been published.
3. All papers submitted will receive consideration for publication in the Journal of Legal Medicine or other medical legal publications.

Format:

1. The format rules below must be followed exactly. PAPERS THAT DO NOT FOLLOW ALL OF THESE RULES WILL NOT BE GRADED.
2. The paper’s length must not exceed 5000 total words, and must not exceed 15 pages. The word count is applicable to the total paper; the words on the title page, footnotes, figures and tables are to be included.
3. All papers are to be submitted in Word document format, using 12 point Times New Roman font for all text. Papers must be typed double-spaced, with one-inch margins and all pages are to be numbered. All citations are to be as footnotes, which should be in 10 point Times New Roman font, single-spaced, and with one-inch margins.
4. The first page must be the cover page, which must include the following information: the author’s name and contact information, including a telephone number, email address and the name of the author’s school. The cover page must also contain the final word count obtained from Word.
5. At the top of page #2 the author must place the title of the paper all in capitals. After the title, two lines must be skipped and the text of the paper should begin.
6. If tables or figures are included, they are to be placed after the text according to the following rules: On the first page after the end of the text, a list of all tables and figures will be provided. Each table and figure will then be placed on a separate page. 

If an author wishes to acknowledge an individual or institution this can only be done on the cover page.

Content:

1. Papers must contain only uncollaborated original work.
2. Papers may relate to research done by the author.
3. Papers may deal with any aspect of legal medicine, including medical licensure and regulation of the profession, business aspects of medical practice, liability of physicians, hospitals, managed care organizations, and pharmaceutical manufacturers, public health law, the physician-patient relationship, care of special patients, food and drug law, medical research, forensic science, and the history of legal medicine.
4. Although papers may have been submitted for a grade at the author’s school, the author may not have submitted the paper elsewhere for publication.
5. It is assumed that the author has no financial interest (direct or indirect) with the material presented. If the author does have a conflict this should be disclosed on the last page of the document.

Judging:

1. All papers will be judged by the Student Awards Committee of the American College of Legal Medicine in a blinded review process. The decision of the judges is final.
2. All prizes may not be awarded each year if the ACLM and/or the Student Awards Committee determines that no entry meets the standards of a winning paper.

Papers will be judged in the following areas:

1. Appropriateness of subject matter for the contest
2. Originality, thoughtfulness
3. Quality of legal and bioethical, medical, law, dentistry, podiatry, nursing, pharmacy, health science, healthcare administration or public health analysis
4. Quality of writing
5. Citation of authority/support for arguments

Deadline and Submission:

1. The papers must be submitted only via email to samantha@wjweiser.com. Papers transmitted or sent in any other form will not be considered for the writing competition.
2. Authors must submit their papers by the end of the business day, January 6, 2014. Under no circumstances will any paper be considered unless it is submitted by the deadline and in the required format.
3. Winners other than the Hirsh Award Winner will be announced at the ACLM 2014 Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas, and may appear personally at their own expense if they wish to be recognized.
4. Direct questions to:

For additional information, please visit the website.