ILBF essay competition—the rule of law in the next 20 years

The deadline is 4pm, 22 April 2025 for essays of up to 1,000 words on the topic: ‘What will be the challenges to the rule of law in the next 20 years?’

Launching the competition last month, Baroness Carr, the Lady Chief Justice, said: ‘The essay competition is such a great opportunity for law undergraduates in the UK to engage with a subject that prompts them to think about the law as it is evolving, the challenges the law will need to address for the future and the wider context of law in society.

‘I think it’s also a chance to hone that essential skill of developing robust arguments backed up by solid research. Both will help law undergraduates to prepare for those all-important applications and those interviews when you are securing work experience pupillages or training contracts.’

This year’s judges are former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas, former Supreme Court Justice, Lord Carnwath, and Yasmin Batliwala, Chief Executive of Advocates for International Development, A4ID. 

The competition, sponsored by law firm Brown Rudnick, is now in its 20th year and is open to all undergraduates studying law at UK universities. Finalists will be invited to the ILBF’s 20th anniversary event at Clifford Chance’s London office in May, where the winners will be announced.

First prize is a week’s internship in summer 2025 at Brown Rudnick, and publication of the winning essay in the Commonwealth Lawyers Association newsletter and on the ILBF’s website. The runner-up essay will be published on the ILBF website.

To find out more, including details on how to enter, see here. 

For inspiration, follow the ILBF on Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube, and watch Baroness Carr launch the competition in this short film.

The ILBF supports the rule of law and access to justice for all through sharing legal knowledge. Since the charity’s foundation 20 years ago, the ILBF has distributed more than 93,000 legal textbooks to more than 285 organisations in 62 countries, supporting law students, teachers, lawyers and judges across the world.