The Human Rights Essay Award is an annual competition sponsored by the Academy that seeks to stimulate the production of scholarly work in international human rights law. Participants have the flexibility to choose any subject related to the assigned topic. The essay must be a legal article.
Essay Award Topic for 2020: Rule of Law and Human Rights: Strengthening Democratic Institutions
Eligibility Criteria
- A Candidate for the Award must submit an unpublished legal article/paper in English or Spanish written solely by that candidate.
- Only one submission will be accepted per applicant in either language. If more than one article is received, it will be left up to the applicant to decide which article to officially submit. Should the applicant not indicate a preference, the first article received by the Academy will be the one considered for the competition.
- Candidates for the Award must hold a law degree and have a demonstrated experience or interest in international human rights law.
- Candidates must choose a subject pertaining to the topic chosen by the Academy for the year. Participants will have the flexibility to choose any subject related to the substantive law relevant to the field. International human rights law can be understood to include international humanitarian law and international criminal law. The paper must be within the scope of the topic or it will be disqualified.
- Past Winners cannot submit essays in future competitions.
American University Washington College of Law Human Rights Essay Award Benefits.
The Academy will grant two Awards, one for the best article in English and one for the best article in Spanish. The Award in each case will consist of:
- A full scholarship to the Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law for either the Diploma or Certificate of Attendance options
- Travel expenses to and from Washington D.C.
- Housing at the university dorms
- Per diem for living expenses
- The best articles may also be published in the American University International Law Review
Method of Application.
- The papers must not exceed 35 pages in length, including footnotes.
- Essays must use Times New Roman font, 12-point double-spaced for the body of the essay and 10-point single-spaced for footnotes.
- Character spacing must be set to normal.
- All essays must be on letter size paper (8.5 x 11 inches/21.59 x 27.94 cm) with 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins all around.
- Any essay that does not follow the guidelines will be reformatted and 5 points will be taken off.
- If the essay is longer than 35 pages, it will be automatically disqualified.
- The essay has to be a legal article; therefore, it will include foot pages and citations. The absence of those will cause that the essay will be disqualified.
SUBMIT ENTRIES OFFICIAL LINK
Scholarship Application Deadline: February 1, 2020 at 11:59 PM (EST).
