Huge thanks to all the entrants to the ILBF’s law undergraduate essay competition 2025 for engaging with the question we posed and sending in your entries.
The question we posed ‘What will be the challenges to the rule of law in the next 20 years?’ prompted a record response. We were delighted to receive essays from law undergraduates at 27 different universities across the UK. We were overwhelmed by the passion, insights and detailed research, and we congratulate all the entrants for taking part and for engaging with the subject.
The question was not an easy one to answer in 1,000 words; the judges were impressed by the excellent research and insights into what the future may hold. The challenges to the rule of law allow for many different analyses and the essayists showed a level of maturity and insight into the issues that were impressive to read, especially given the number of entrants in their first year of an undergraduate degree.
After two rounds of judging the ILBF’s law undergraduate essay competition 2025, we are delighted to announce the names of the four finalists.
The finalists are:
- Haseeb Haraj, SOAS University of London
- Sean Xue, University of York
- Aiko Yeo, London School of Economics and Political Science
- Hannah Zia, University of Cambridge
Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill CVO and Yasmin Batliwala MBE, Chief Executive of Advocates for International Development (A4ID) will judge the final round and select the winner.
The finalists have been invited to the ILBF’s 20th anniversary event on 14th May when the Rt. Hon. The Baroness Carr of Walton-on-the-Hill, the Lady Chief Justice of England and Wales, will announce the winner. A film of the announcement will be released in the coming weeks.
Our thanks to all of the judges and in particular to Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill CVO and Yasmin Batliwala MBE for the final judging and their support for the competition.
We would also like to thank Brown Rudnick for sponsoring the competition this year and for their invaluable support for the ILBF’s mission.
We wish all the entrants to our law undergraduate essay competition the very best of luck in their studies and their future careers. It was a pleasure to read your essays.
In due course we will publish a grand summary of all the ideas in the submitted essays, with the goal of continuing to stimulate legal and public discourse and to maintain vigilance on the future of the rule of law.
ILBF judging team:
- The Rt Hon. Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales, founder and Patron of the ILBF
- The Rt Hon. Lord Carnwath of Notting Hill CVO, former Supreme Court Justice, Visiting Professor in Practice at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and founding member of the EU Forum of Judges for the Environment, and of the Global Institute of Judges for the Environment
- Yasmin Baltiwala MBE, Chief Executive of Advocates for International Development (A4ID)
- Jane Colston, Brown Rudnick and ILBF Trustee
- Sophia Dirir, Head of Legal, Cancer Research UK, ILBF trustee
- Fernanda Pirie, Professor of the Anthropology of Law, University of Oxford
- Katrina Crossley, Chief Executive of the ILBF
- Ellen Lake, Rio Tinto, ILBF Operating Committee
- Chiara Iorizzo, Skadden
- Goviintha Krishnan, President, The United Kingdom & Eire Malaysian Law Students’ Union
