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The Beverly Hills Bar Foundation announces its inaugural Rule of Law Competition with prizes to be awarded at the Beverly Hills Bar Supreme Court Luncheon on June 1, 2010. Grand Prize is $2,500.00,with two Honorable Award prizes of $500.00 each.
Beverly Hills Bar Foundation
Thank you for requesting
information on the Beverly Hills Bar Foundation Rule of Law Competition.
For over fifty years the Beverly Hills Bar Foundation has supported law
school scholarships and other projects supporting and promoting the Rule
of Law. The purpose of the competition is to encourage research and
learned papers which help to define or promote the Rule of Law.
As Justice Anthony Kennedy said about The Rule of Law:
"I want lawyers to be once again advocates for the Rule of Law.
And this involves a reassessment by lawyers of very fundamental
principles of democracy and of our culture and of our history, and
freedom. So, I think of this
in part as a way to re‑energize the Bar so that the Bar can reaffirm and
rededicate itself to these first principles..."
Your participation in this competition is an important step in that
direction.
RULES
1.
Eligibility:
This competition is open to juris doctorate candidates currently
enrolled at an 2. Limit on Entries: Each author may submit one entry.
3.
Topic:
Entries should relate to the Rule of Law and may address any or
all of the following:
a.
Define the Rule of Law or comment upon the attached definition;
or
b.
Comment on the importance or the effects of the Rule of Law, any
of its elements, or the lack of a Rule of Law on society.
4.
Criteria:
Eligible entries shall meet standards of academic worthiness determined
by the Selection Committee and be judged on an overall merit basis.
5.
Due Date:
Entries for the awards are due March 31st of each year and
shall be submitted electronically in Word
or Word converted to searchable pdf form to
foundation.rol@bhba.org. Late submissions and hardcopies will not be
considered.
6.
Format:
Title
Page:
Entrant’s names shall
not appear on the manuscript, but shall appear on a separate title page
to be removed when a number is assigned to the entry.
The title page shall also contain the entrant’s address,
telephone number and email address as well as a a one or two line
synopsis of the entry. Each entry shall include a two page executive
summary.
Entries should be
4,000-5,000 words in length, not including footnotes/endnotes.
Entries must use the Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation, for
citation style.
7.
Certification:
Each entry shall be accompanied by a letter from the author in which the
author certifies the work submitted has not had prior publication, or if
published previously, a letter from the previous publisher giving the
author permission to submit the work to this competition and to provide
a non-exclusive unrestricted license to republish and or provide other
such licenses for the work.
8.
Selection Committee:
Shall consist of a minimum of five (5) members chosen by the
Beverly Hills Bar Foundation Board of Governors representing the
community at large, the academic community and practicing attorneys, who
have a demonstrated interest or expertise in the Rule of Law.
9.
Submitted Materials: Submitted materials become the
property of the Beverly Hills Bar Foundation.
The BHBF/BHBA , their successors and or designees, shall have the
non-exclusive right to publish any submission in any form, electronic or
otherwise.
10.
Announcement of Recipient:
The award recipients will be announced
on May 15th each year to be presented at the Supreme Court
Luncheon of the BHBF/BHBA held in June of each year.
11. Rule of Law
Awards:
Awards shall
include a $2,500 prize for the winner and two $500 honorable mention
awards to be chosen from eligible entries.
Each award recipient will receive a ticket to the Beverly Hills
Bar Foundation’s Annual Supreme Court luncheon where the awards will be
presented.
Winning and
honorable mention entries shall be published by the BHBF and Beverly
Hills Bar Association on their website
www.bhba.org/Foundation.htm or other forums to be selected by the
BHBF/BHBA,, its successors and or designees.
12. Submission
Checklist:
DEFINITION OF THE RULE OF LAW
The Rule of Law is not
well defined.
It needs to
be. The lack of a definition lends to its use as an epithet for whatever
the speaker wants it to mean.
It also inhibits the study of the rule of Law, its aspects and
its effects.
Study will test
and refine the rule.
Study
will allow predictions of its effects to be tested.
Assuming its benefits can be predicted and verified the Rule of
Law will be validated as the fundamental value which sets one nation
above another in its recognition of both human rights and economic
success.
A fair justice system
founded in tolerance and integrity guarantees the rights of individuals
against the government, the powerful, and the many.
The Rule of Law provides that tolerance and integrity.
It gives respect to both personal rights and property rights.
Because these rights are the primary incentive for achievement,
they bring to the nations that follow the Rule of Law economic and
political success as well.
Essential Elements of the Rule of Law Process
The Rule of Law is a process consisting of five essential elements:
1)
Fair Access.
The justice system is reasonably open and available to all, and does not
impose oppressive burdens on the participants;
2)
Fair courts.
The courts exhibit tolerance and integrity. They are competent, and
efficient. Judges are impartial and independent, randomly assigned, and
not subject to political influence or manipulation
3)
Fair Laws.
The
laws are public, clear and reasonable when applied to human experience;
4)
Fair Administration.
The administrative branch, prosecutors, and police, are
reasonably fair, competent, and efficient; and
5)
All are subject to the law. Government officials including
the
President,
Supreme Court and the Congress, consent to being subject to the
law.
The Rule of Law process
depends on the constant application of tolerance and integrity through a
political system founded on these five necessary elements.
Each country implementing the Rule of Law will produce its own
legislation, administrative methods and judicial decisions.
Each system while based upon the same five elements will be
formed to the particular time, culture and circumstance where it is
implemented.
By fostering
and promoting the process which is the Rule of Law, no matter what the
place or time, all societies can benefit from its implementation.
Some challenge the Rule of Law as peculiar to the Western world or not
suitable to all cultures.
Some see the current success of the nations which follow the Rule of Law
as chance, good fortune or a mere shifting in the vagueries of history.
If the process (the Rule of Law) has inherent value, it should be
possible to show a direct relationship between the integrity with which
a nation enforces the Rule of Law and the success, economic and
otherwise, of that nation.
For example, one might predict a correlation between the number of
attorneys in a country and that country’s economic standing.
The extent of the independence of the judiciary or of individual
rights could also be tested to see whether they correlate to economic
success.
© Kenneth G. Petrulis
Rule of Law Competition Timeline
August
1, 2009: 2009 -2010 Rule of Law Competition Announced. August 15, 2009:
Rule of Law Competition materials and links disseminated to local
law October 1, 2009:
Entries open and may be submitted to a designated website for
receiving January 15, 2010:
Formation meeting for Committee to read and judge entries.
March 31, 2010:
Entries close.
Reading and judging of entries begin. April
21, 2010:
Reading of entries ends.
Committee meets to judge winners. May 1,
2010:
Winning entries announced and invitations to Supreme Court
Luncheon for June
1, 2010:
First Annual Rule of Law Awards presented at Annual Supreme Court
For more information about the Beverly Hills Bar
Foundation, CLICK HERE
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