First Kautilya Society, HNLU Essay Competition 2021 on Law & Public Policy (Submit by 27 Sept)

About HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, RAIPUR

Established in 2003, Hidayatullah National Law University, Raipur is one of the leading law schools in the country. In a short span of time, HNLU has carved out a niche in the realm of legal education across India and the legacy is soaring towards newer heights day by day. Named after the great legal luminary Justice Mohammad Hidayatullah, the University was established by the Government of Chhattisgarh under the Hidayatullah National University of Law, Chhattisgarh, Act (Act. No. 10 of 2003).

HNLU has been ranked 5th in India Today’s 2021 rankings of the top law colleges in India and 51-100 globally in the Crisis Management category by the World’s Universities with Real Impact Rankings 2021. Hon’ble Mr Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra, Acting Chief Justice, High Court of Chhattisgarh is the Chancellor, Prof. (Dr.) V.C. Vivekanandan is the Vice-Chancellor and Prof. (Dr.) Uday Shankar is the Registrar of the University.

About Kautilya Society, HNLU

Kautilya Society at HNLU is a student initiative set up by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy to widen access to legislative drafting and analysis and empower young minds to explore public policy as a career path. Kautilya Society students conduct legal research to identify gaps in law, policy, governance or regulation and contribute to public policy discourse by hosting discussions and events on recent legal policy developments.

About the Essay Competition

The 1st Kautilya Society, HNLU Essay Competition endeavours to stimulate interest and foster growth amongst students across various fields of study to explore and engage with contemporary legal and policy issues. The objective of the Essay Competition ("Competition")is to encourage research in the intertwined areas of law and public policy, and accordingly, contemporary and cutting-edge areas have been selected for the Competition.

Theme and Sub-Themes

The theme of the competition has been set as “Governance & Policy Challenges in a Post- Covid Era”. A few indicative sub-themes are provided below. Do note that this is not an exhaustive list, and participants are free to write on any topic as long as it is within the ambit of the aforementioned central theme.

• Public Health Challenges

• Data Privacy and Protection

• Judicial Reforms (Access to Justice)

• Labour Law Reforms

• Financial Laws

• Inclusivity in Digital Education

(Note - A detailed description of the indicative sub-themes can be found in the Brochure)

Registration

There is no registration fee for the Competition, however, participants are required to fill the registration form located here. Only entries of registered participants will be considered for evaluation.

Registration link - https://forms.gle/e5X16pMuVELNt8aq8

Submission Guidelines

• All submissions should be made in an electronic form at ksociety@hnlu.ac.in under the subject heading "Submission: 1st Kautilya Society, HNLU Essay Competition".

• The essay must be written in English and submitted in Microsoft Word document format (.doc/.docx).

• Co-authorship up to a maximum of two authors is permitted.

• Only one submission is allowed per author/team.

• The word limit is 2000-2500 words excluding footnotes. Footnotes must follow the Bluebook system of citation (Harvard, 20th edition).

• Avoid extensive footnotes or extensive quotations.

• The essay must contain an abstract, not exceeding 250 words (which would not be counted in the word limit for the essay). It must indicate the theme.

• The essay must be accompanied by a separate document containing the following information about the participant:

(i) full name of the participant;

(ii) theme chosen;

(iii) participant’s current year of study and name of the degree pursued;

(iv) name and full address of the participant’s university;

(v) name and full postal address of the participant;

(vi) phone number of the participant; and

(vii) email ID of the participant.

• The essay must be original and bonafide work of the participant. Incomplete or plagiarised submissions shall be summarily rejected.

• The plagiarism limit is 15% (excluding footnotes).

• The essay should not be submitted for any other competition and/or for any other purposes.

Formatting Criteria

• Main Body: Font – Times New Roman, Font Size – 12, and Line Spacing – 1.5.

• Footnotes: Font – Times New Roman, Font Size – 10, and Line Spacing – 1.0.

• Margins should be 1 inch or 2.54 cm on all sides.

Evaluation Criteria

• Each article must reflect the author’s own research, writing and original thinking.

• Double-blind peer review shall be followed as the method of evaluation. The essays will be evaluated in a two-stage process on the basis of original thinking, grasp of the subject, writing skills and choice of topic.

• All submissions received will be evaluated by a screening committee comprising Mentors from Vidhi, Faculty Advisor and Society Members. Authors of the top 5 essays will be notified via email.

• The top 5 essays shall be sent to the judging panel comprising Mr Alok Prasanna, Co-founder, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy for the selection of the winner and runners-up.

Eligibility

The Competition is open to all students enrolled in an undergraduate or postgraduate programme in any recognised university in India.

Submission Deadline

27 September 2021, 23:59 hours (Indian Standard Time, GMT +5:30).

Late submissions shall not be accepted under any circumstances.

Prizes

• First Prize - Cash prize of Rs 6,500; Letter of Appreciation from Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

• Second Prize - Cash prize of Rs 3,500; Letter of Appreciation from Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

The top five essays will be awarded a Certificate of Merit. Certificate of Participation will be awarded to all the participants.

Announcement of Results

• The results of the Competition shall be announced in the last week of October 2021 (tentatively).

• The organisers will issue a Press Release in relation to the prize-winning entries and will also post the results on its website. The organisers will inform the respective institutions of the winners.

Contact Information

Madhur Bhatt (Convenor): +91 9971678806

Viraj Aditya (Vice-Convenor): +91 8210697371

For more information, please visit our website or write to us at ksociety@hnlu.ac.in.

Website link- https://kautilyasocietyhnlu.wordpress.com/

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