The CBA Military Law Section has established the Sword & Scale Essay Contest to encourage law students and young lawyers to participate in the activities of the Section and to promote and reward interest in military law topics.
Criteria and eligibility
The prize is presented annually for the best scholarly paper in Canadian military law or justice, public policy or public affairs related to Canadian military law and regulation touching on military law or national security.
Authors must be full-time university students currently enrolled at a Canadian law school at either an undergraduate or graduate level, or articling students or lawyers within three years of their call to the Bar as of March 31, 2020.
Submission guidelines
- Papers must be at least 7 pages and no more than 15 pages in length, including references.
- Papers must be double spaced using Times New Roman, font size 12.
- Papers must address a theme of significance in Canadian military law or justice, public policy or public affairs related to Canadian military law and regulation touching on military law or national security.
- Papers must be appropriately referenced; all referencing methods in the legal field will be accepted.
- Papers must be written in either English or French.
- Papers must be the author’s original, unpublished work.
- Papers or revisions of papers that are submitted for a law school course are eligible.
- Papers must be submitted with a separate cover page with author’s name and identifying information. The author’s name and identifying information must not appear on the paper itself.
- A short abstract (max. 150 words) and the author’s biography (max. 150 words) must also be submitted.
Deadline for submissions
Tuesday March 31, 2020.
Entries received after the deadline will not be considered.
Contact
CBA Sections
Phone: (613) 237-2925 or
Toll Free: (800) 267-8860
E-mail: cbamilitarylaw@cba.org
Selection process
- Papers will be evaluated by a jury of 3-5 members appointed by the CBA Military Law Section Executive.
- Papers will be reviewed for quality of content and readability.
- Papers may be rejected if they fail to adhere to any of the submission guidelines.
- All submissions will be acknowledged and all candidates will receive notification of contest results.
Award and presentation
The award consists of a monetary prize of $500, complimentary registration to the Section’s Military Law Conference in Ottawa (in years offered), the presentation of an award certificate at the Conference, and publication of the winner’s paper on the CBA Military Law Section webpage.
Award winners
- 2019 - Benjamin Longpré (Gatineau, QC)
- 2018 - Afton Maisonneuve (Ottawa, ON)
- 2016 - Amélie Gravel (Montreal, QC)
- 2015 - Laina Smith (Windsor, ON)
- 2014 - Jennifer Dumoulin (Ottawa, ON)
- 2013 - James Foy (Vancouver, BC)
- 2012 - Marc Lampert (Thornhill, ON)
- 2011 - Darren Vallentgoed (Halifax, NS)
- 2010 - Andrew Weafer (Kitchener, ON)