A panel of judges from across the legal profession, including from academia, corporations, barristers’ chambers and law firms will select the best essays from this annual competition for final judging. The International Law Book Facility calls for law undergraduates to send their 1000 word essays on the following topic:
“What is the case for a unified international code of law governing commercial and financial transactions and why might such a code be undesirable?”
The Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Dingemans formally launched the competition this year, you can watch his video via the organisation’s LinkedIn page.
The prize for the winning essay is:
- A comprehensive week’s internship exposing the winner to the law in practice, comprising of:
- a day at a barristers’ chambers
- a day with the in-house legal team of one of the UK’s largest charities
- a day at one of the top London law firms
- a day shadowing a Court of Appeal judge
- a day at a leading legal publisher
- Publication of the winning essay in various legal publications and channels.
All finalists’ essays will also be published.
Deadline is 5pm on the 1st June 2026 – find all the rules and guidelines via the ILBF website.