News


Congratulations to Alyssa Bell, the winner of our first annual Human Rights Student Scholars Writing Competition. Details about the winner, as well as her essay title, can be found here.

Congratulations to our new Managing Board members!

Professor Christopher Bruner's Article from 50:3 wins the Association of American Law Schools 2010 Scholarly Papers Competition.

Professor Sean Watts' Article from 50:2 receives the American Society for International Law 2010 Francis Lieber Military Prize.

Opinio Juris


Authors from Vol. 50:3 to Continue the Scholarly Debate Online with Blog Posts at Opinio Juris 50 No.3

See the 50:2 symposium at Opinio Juris 50 No.2

See the 50:1 symposium at Opinio Juris 50 No.1

See the 49:4 symposium at Opinio Juris 49 No.4

See the 49:3 symposium at Opinio Juris 49 No.3

HRSSWC Guidelines

UPDATE: The 2010 competition is no longer accepting entries.  The 2011 competition will begin accepting entries in the fall.

Article Format
Submissions must be original, unpublished academic works by one author. All manuscripts must be submitted in English. The text should be double-spaced in 12-point font with 1-inch margins. The length must be approximately 25 to 50 pages, including footnotes. Footnotes may appear in single-spaced 10-point font. All citations must conform to The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (18th ed., 2005). We regret that we are unable to return any manuscripts submitted for consideration or offer feedback on reviewed works.

Eligible Authors
We accept submissions from J.D., L.L.M., and S.J.D. candidates from both the United States and abroad. Submissions from May 2009 graduates will be considered if they were written as part of a law school curriculum. Only one entry per student is permitted. Multiple submissions will result in disqualification. No paper previously published will be considered. However, papers currently being considered for publication, papers related to research done by the author and/or submitted to fulfill a course requirement or law journal Note requirement may be submitted. Submissions should not yet have undergone significant editing by journal editors, professors, or others.

Submitting Manuscripts
We strongly recommend that pieces be submitted electronically at HRSSWC@list.mail.virginia.edu. In addition to your paper, submit a single page cover sheet that includes:

• Your name;
• Your phone number & e-mail;
• Your mailing address;
• The title of your paper.
• Your school name, graduation year, and degree sought or attained.

If you are unable to submit your paper electronically, you may mail the submission to:

Human Rights Student Scholars Writing Competition
Attn: Professor Deena Hurwitz
University of Virginia School of Law
580 Massie Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903

If your manuscript is submitted in hardcopy, we will contact you should we wish to obtain an electronic version of your piece.

The Selection Process
All submissions will be subject to an initial screening process involving at least three readers. The finalists will then be reviewed by a committee of judges consisting of Virginia Law professors and VJIL editors. The panel will then select the top paper among the finalists. Submissions will be judged on their depth of legal analysis, quality of writing, readiness for publication, originality (in topic selection and treatment), thoroughness of research, relevance, and future impact. The committee reserves the right to make one or more awards, or none at all, in a given year.