Call for submissions: Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Essay Prize

The Essay Prize is possible due to the gifts that have been made by donors to the Kim Santow Memorial Fund. 

The Essay Prize will be awarded in association with the annual Kim Santow Expert Panel on Law and Social Justice which will take place on Thursday 30 November 2023.  

The Essay Prize is open to students enrolled in an LLB or JD program at an Australian University.  In 2023, essays must be submitted by 6 November 2023, responding this proposition:

What policy initiative/s would best enable you to pursue a career in social justice?

Please direct any inquiries to Ms Anastasia Radievska at <law.reform@sydney.edu.au>. 

Rules for the competition are below.

Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Essay Prize 2023: Rules

1. 1. The Kim Santow Law and Social Justice Essay Prize is open to any student enrolled in an LLB or JD degree program at an Australian tertiary institution at the time of submission or within the previous six months.
2. 2. Essays must have been written in the 12 months before the submission deadline. Essays that have been written for assessment in a degree program may be submitted, as written or adapted.
3. 3. A person may not submit more than one essay to the Competition in any given year.
4. 4. Essays must respond to the following proposition:
   
   What [policy change/initiative] would best enable you to pursue a career in social justice?.
5. 5. Essays must be no more than 3,500 words. Essays exceeding this word limit will not be accepted. Footnotes and a bibliography (required), are not included in the final word count.
6. 6. Essays must be submitted as a .pdf document by email to <law.reform@sydney.edu.au>.
7. 7. The deadline for submission of essays is 5.00 pm (AEDT) on Monday 6 November, 2023. No extensions will be given.
8. 8. Essays must meet the highest standards of academic integrity, and be fully and accurately referenced according to a recognised referencing standard (eg, AGLC, Harvard, MLA).
9. 9. Each person submitting an essay must declare that the essay is the person’s own original work. By submitting an essay, a person agrees that Sydney Law School may conduct an integrity check for copyright infringement or plagiarism.
10. 10. An essay that is submitted to the Competition must be accompanied by a separate cover page stating: 
    a.     the author’s name, contact email and telephone number
    b.     a declaration of enrolment (see rule 1)
    c.     a declaration of time (see rule 2)
    d.     a declaration of integrity (see rule 9)
11. 11. So that it can be marked anonymously, a submitted essay must not include any information – for example in a header or footer – that identifies the author.
12. 12. Eligible essays will be anonymised and reviewed by a panel of experts against the following criteria:
    1. Novelty: does the essay address a cutting-edge issue and/or contribute a novel perspective or analysis to the question
    2. Argument: is the argument clear, compelling, well-developed and supported by evidence?
    3. Clarity and structure: is the essay written clearly and concisely, and organised in a logical and effective way?
    4. Accuracy: is the essay presented neatly and legibly, with few or no content, typographical, grammatical and referencing errors?
13. 13. The best essay will be announced on 30 November, 2023 at the Kim Santow Experts Panel on Social Justice at the Sydney Law School. The decision of the judging panel is final.
14. 14. The judging panel may in its discretion decline to award prizes.
15. 15. Subject to rule 14, the author of the Winning Essay will each receive a prize of AUD$1000.
16. 16. The author of the Winning Essay will be offered academic support and advice to revise their work for submission for publication.
17. 17. The author of the Winning Essay agrees that if their essay is published (by any means, in any forum), that its publication will be accompanied by an acknowledgment that the essay won the Prize in the relevant year.