ESSAY COMPETITION
The ASLP Essay Competition is designed to encourage original research and writing in legal theory and philosophy of law by early career scholars around the world. The author of the winning essay will receive a cash prize of AU$1,000, plus a contribution of up to AU$500 towards the cost of attendance at the Society’s annual conference to present the essay as a paper.
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Who can take part?
The competition is open to students who are currently enrolled in a postgraduate degree program (Master or Doctoral) in any discipline (or who wrote their submission in the competition year while enrolled in such a program that they have now completed). Graduates in one discipline studying for a first degree in a different discipline (such as a Juris Doctor) are not eligible. Previous winners of the competition are also ineligible.
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Submission process and deadline
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We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2025/26 ASLP Essay Competition is Amitpal C Singh (JSD Candidate, Harvard University) for his paper ‘Honour Among Thieves’. The paper is a work in private law theory which defends the view that immoral promises generate genuine moral obligations even among wrongdoers and argues that this fact is crucial to explaining why making such promises is morally objectionable.
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Our warm congratulations to Amit, whose prize-winning essay will be submitted for publication in the Journal of Legal Philosophy. We also give our sincere thanks to the JLP Editorial Board for judging the entries and selecting a winner among a large number high-quality entries this year.
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The 2026/27 Competition will be announced toward the end of the year.
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