Essay competition: can human rights be universal and have respect for cultural relativism?

Law students, trainee solicitors and junior lawyers are invited to enter the Law Society's annual Graham Turnbull essay competition. This year's essay title is: Can human rights be universal and have respect for cultural relativism? The deadline for entries is Friday 26 February 2010.

Prizes

The winner will receive £500 from the Graham Turnbull Memorial Fund. The runner-up receives book tokens to the value of £250. We will also publish both essays.

The prize giving event will take place on 27 April 2010 at the Law Society, where the winner may give a short speech.

The winners will be announced and copies of their essays will be handed out on the night.

Attendance at the prize giving is free and open to all, but if you wish to attend you must first register by emailing internationalhumanrights@lawsociety.org.uk.

About the Graham Turnbull Competition

The competition is named after Graham Turnbull, an English solicitor who did much to promote respect for human rights. Graham was killed in February 1997, aged 37, while working as a human rights monitor on the United Nations Human Rights Mission in Rwanda. The Society is proud to honour Graham's commitment to human rights through this competition, which aims to encourage awareness and knowledge of international human rights issues and remedies among young lawyers.

Entering the competition

• The competition is open to all law students, trainee solicitors, pupil barristers and all solicitors and barristers, within three years of admission/call at the closing date.
• Essays must reach the Law Society by 18:00 on Friday 26 February 2010.
• Entries should be a maximum of 2,000 words including footnotes.
• Entries will be rejected if they do not address the subject of the title, or exceed 2,000 words.
• Proof of eligibility must be included with your essay.
• Read the full rules before submitting your entry.
• The winning essay will be chosen by a panel of distinguished judges. The judges' decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into.

Send your essay to:

Mr Courtenay Barklem, Human Rights Adviser, internationalhumanrights@lawsociety.org.uk.

Previous winners

Read examples of previous winning entries from 2003/4 and 2008/9.