Hiil Conference: Law of the Future, Hague, NL

Call for papers
Within the broader framework of the HiiL Law of the Future Conference 2011, the Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law (www.hiil.org) invites young scholars and graduate students to enter into the “HiiL Young Talent Essay Competition” by submitting original, scholarly written essays on how they think law will look like in 20-30 years.

Deadline: 01/06/2010
Open to: young scholars and graduate students

The showpiece happening in HiiL’s calendar of events is the Law of The Future Conference. In the HiiL Law of the Future Conference 2011, they wish to bring together much of the insights from the research HiiL has initiated, as to take a look at how the law of the  future (10, 20 or 30 years from now) could or should look like.

The discussion on the Law of the Future will be loosely organised around three tracks:

• Track I: Constitutional / institutional / administrative law:  This cluster deals with all aspects of constitutionality, emphasising the more „vertical? relations between „governance? and those that are „governed?. It encompasses the national and international levels and can include both the public and private spheres.
• Track II: Private law / private actors / horizontal relationships: This cluster deals with the more „horizontal? relations between actors in the legal system. It also encompasses the national and international levels and can include both the public  and private spheres.
• Track III: Criminal law / public power and punishment: This cluster departs from the paradigm of traditional criminal law: a public power/authority, which investigates, prosecutes, and a judge who „punishes? on behalf the „a community?. It also encompasses the national and international level.

Within each track, a number of crosscutting themes feature. These can include, but are not limited to: internationalisation; the notion of universality; the role of states; the role of international organisations; the changing relationship public – private; the role of judges; dispute settlement; the making of rules; accountability and legitimacy; the influence of technology and science; religion; the legal profession; and teaching and research.

Based on an open process concept and amongst other forms of consultations, HiiL is interested in the views of young scholars and graduate students on law of the future. Note that while the object of study is “law”, the prism through which it is looked at can be legal, political, economic, or social. The essay should attempt to answer the following:

“What do you see as the most significant challenges for the development of the law (within one or more of the tracks mentioned above and/or in relation to other tracks)? What developments are we likely to see in the coming two to three decades? What do those developments mean for national legal systems as a whole?”

Award
Of the essays submitted pursuant to this Call, HiiL will select (a max. of) 10 nominees, from which the winning essay will be chosen. The author of the best essay will receive the HiiL Young Talent Award. In addition, the winner will:  receive a prize of €750 (to be spent for academic purposes, such as books and/or attending a conference or a summer school abroad); be invited to participate in events leading up to the HiiL Law of the Future Conference 2011, in particular a preparatory academic workshop (to be held in The Hague on 3 September 2010); be invited to present the winning essay at the high-profile HiiL Law of the Future Conference 2011 itself (to be held in The Hague on 23-24 June 2011).

Eligible to participate

• Young scholars who are in the final stages of their graduate studies or who have recently completed them (completion not longer than 2 years before the submission of the essay);
• Young scholars who are enrolled in a PhD/doctorate programme;
• Applicants do not have to be law students or recently graduated lawyers, but can also come from other disciplines;
• Should potential applicants have any questions as regards their eligibility, a preliminary question on this matter can be directed to HiiL at: youngtalent@hiil.org (Subject: Eligibility Call for Essays).

Admissibility criteria

• Language: English;
• Style: font – Verdana; font size – 8,5;
• Word limit: 4,000 words (excluding footnotes and bibliography);
• The essay shall contain a short bibliography (not included in the word count);
• The essay shall contain an abstract of max. 150 words (not included in the word count);
• Applicants allow HiiL to publish their name in case of inclusion in the list of final nominees and grant HiiL a non-exclusive right to publish the submitted essay;
• Submitted in accordance with the application instructions below;
• The applicant has to be available for participating in the HiiL Law of the Future Conference 2011, 23-24 June and preferably also for participating in a workshop on 3 September 2010, both of which will take place in The Hague.

Application instructions

Selection procedure

• Selection will take place in two phases;
• First phase: a handful of the most promising essays (max. 10) will be nominated for the HiiL Young Talent Award. The nominees will be notified personally by email in the beginning of July 2010. The list of nominees will be announced on the conference website and will general be given further exposure as part of the conference communication;
• Second phase: out of the list of nominees, one essay will be selected as the winner of  the HiiL Young Talent Award. The winning essay will be published on the HiiL Law of the Future Conference 2011 website as well as on the HiiL Young Talent Essay Competition at  the HiiL LinkedIn page;
• The selection process will be fair and in accordance with the HiiL standards of excellence.
• The selection decision shall be final.

For more information, check the website.