AIJA Best International Future Lawyers Award • 2023

2023 BIFLA WINNER

The winning video blog – ‘ESG-Turns dreams into reality’ - JAROSŁAW KOLA

The award-winning video presented by Jarosław demonstrates that the effective implementation of ESG postulates requires taking all the pillars of this concept into account. The film emphasises that since ESG comprises three letters, it is insufficient to focus on just one or two. Consequently, if we want to implement ESG effectively, we must remember that the concept goes beyond the environmental aspect, as the closely linked social and governance perspectives are its other two pillars.

Such an approach requires a change of mindset and the way lawyers work. Where to find inspiration? In the transfer of knowledge, which we need to foster first and foremost between lawyers from various jurisdictions, both through participation in international scientific life and involvement in organisations such as AIJA.

2023 Contest Topic

We are thrilled to invite law students and recent law graduates to participate in AIJA’s 2023 Best International Future Lawyer Award competition!

This year the BIFLA competition offers a choice of three (3) topics to reflect on. BIFLA contestants may choose one (1) of the following as their video-blog topic:

Emerging trends related to Africa’s tech eco-system and the continent’s international business environment;
The social and governance pillars of ESG, including insights and practical guidance on key emerging trends and opportunities for international lawyers to address the rising demand for ESG services as the global businesses and investment community shift to a green economy; or
The theme of AIJA’s 61st Congress in Rio de Janeiro: "Re-thinking the law in four dimensions”, with an invitation to look ahead in time to the year 2028, while reflecting on the legal issues that are likely to dominate or impact the legal profession over the next five years, be it from an economic, financial, regulatory, humanitarian, environmental, or any other relevant perspective.

Law students and recent law graduates are invited to reflect on one (1) of the topics listed above.

The aim of the competition is to welcome new and diverse voices into a discussion about these timely issues related to the legal profession.

Contest Submission Format

Entries for the Best International Future Lawyer Award 2023 are to be recorded and submitted to AIJA using a “video blog” format.

In a video blog, the entrant appears in the video and presents their reflections orally. Video blog submissions should last a minimum of 3 minutes and should not exceed 5 minutes in duration. English will be the language used in the video blogs. The intended audience for the video blog submission is AIJA’s members and prospective members. Entries will be judged for their substance, for their creativity, and for their ability to capture the intended audience’s attention while causing the intended audience to reflect on this year’s topic and the video blogger’s presentation.

AIJA will accept common video file formats generated by smartphones and computers including AVI, FLV, MOV, MP4 and WMV. Video blog entries are to be submitted to AIJA through a Google Forms link by 7 May 2023 before midnight CEST.

Prize

The 2023 Best International Future Lawyer Award Winner will be honoured with:

Free AIJA membership until 2026.

Publication of the winner’s name and video blog on AIJA’s channels.

A 1000 € voucher that can be used to cover fully or partially Winner’s attendance (including registration fee, accommodation and travel costs) to any AIJA event taking place within 1 calendar year from the announcement of the Winner.

Winners of previous editions

2022 - “Digital lawyers and the COVID-19 pandemic”, Larisa Munteanu - Watch here the video blog

2020 - “‘Do it right’: The initiative for diversity across the board”, Isabel Lightbody - Read here the essay

2019 - “Taking a Stand: Achieving Climate Change Action through Climate Litigation”, Xuejun Zhao - Read here the essay

2018 - “Lunar Law - Is it mere Colony Law with Cosmic Application?”, Christopher Sawyer - Read here the essay

2017 - “Will the increasing use of technology in law invigorate or diminish legal professionalism as the nature of information in the Digital Society changes?”, Lorraine Chimbga - Read here the essay

2016 - “Governing Shared Natural Resources of the International Seabed Area”, Sharefah Almuhana - Read here the essay

Terms & conditions

Description: The Best International Future Lawyer Award (the “Award”) is granted by AIJA for the best video blog submission (the “submission”) submitted on a given topic each year. The competition is free to enter.
Eligible candidates:
1. Law students aged 45 and under who are still enrolled at any university worldwide at the time the video blog is submitted. Eligible candidates may be pursuing law studies at any level - including graduate or postgraduate studies - to the extent that they are not yet fully admitted to practice and/or fully licensed in their jurisdiction. Persons already fully admitted to practice and/or fully licensed in their jurisdictions, who are nonetheless enrolled at a university (e.g. in an LL.M. program) are not eligible under this paragraph 2.
2. Law graduates aged 45 and under who graduated after 31 August 2021.
3. AIJA membership is not a requirement.
4. Previous winners of this or any other AIJA award or scholarship are excluded from the Competition. All other Eligible candidates from previous years may apply again.
Submission Format: Eligible candidates may only submit one individual submission per year. Entries must be submitted in video format through the following Google Form link. AIJA will accept common video file formats generated by smartphones and computers including AVI, FLV, MOV, MP4 and WMV. The framing can be either landscape or portrait and ideally in 4k definition, but files beyond 100 Mb will not be accepted for upload.
Deadline: Submissions are due by 7 May 2023 before midnight CEST. AIJA will start accepting entries as of 24 February 2023. Submission deadlines will be strictly observed; late entries will not be accepted.
Additional submission requirements:
1. The submission must be the original work of the entrant.
2. While identifying information shall be part of the submission, the video blog itself needs to be anonymous. This means that the video blog must not identify the blogger or their employer, university, location or home country or jurisdiction. The blogger may, however, appear in the video blog. AIJA may disqualify any submission that includes unnecessary information in the video blog.
3. The language used for the video blog presentation shall be English.
Evaluation:
1. Anonymisation: Each submission will be detached from identifying information before submission to the evaluators and will be assigned a number for identification purposes which will be provided to the evaluators.
2. Evaluators: The evaluation will be done by a panel of selected judges chosen by the National Representatives Committee of AIJA. There will be an evaluation panel consisting of at least three Evaluators. The Evaluators will view the anonymised submissions and will select one as the winner by scoring tied to the Evaluation Criteria (the “Winner”).
3. Evaluation Criteria: Submissions will be evaluated on their substance, for their creativity, and for their ability to capture the intended audience’s attention while causing the intended audience to reflect on the video blogger’s presentation. Bearing in mind that part or most of the eligible candidates may not be native English speakers, Evaluators will nonetheless take into consideration clarity, structure, and overall presentation. Eligible candidates shall have no claim to be awarded the Award, even if all prerequisites are met. The decisions made by the Evaluators cannot be appealed against.
Winner Selection, Notification and Prize: The Winner will be selected by 16 June 2023 and will be informed after that date. The Winner will be honoured with:
1. Free AIJA membership for the three years following the announcement of the Winner.
2. Publication of the Winner’s name and submission on AIJA’s communication channels (website, social media etc.).
3. A 1000 € voucher that can be used to cover fully or partially Winner’s attendance (including registration fee, accommodation and travel costs) to any AIJA event taking place within 1 calendar year from the announcement of the Winner. The Winner (i) might be required to present a summary at the event they attend; (ii) might be required to attend a webinar, an online meeting of its bodies concerning the Award, or a similar online event of AIJA prior to the event, and (ii) will be granted an Award certificate during the event which they attend. The Winner will also receive a specific badge.
4. At the discretion of AIJA and subject to the terms of any sponsorship agreement, the Award may be granted by a sponsor of the Best International Future Lawyer Award for the particular year.
Further Recognition/Awards: AIJA and the Evaluators reserve the right, depending on the quality, quantity, geographic spread of the submissions, to recognise and/or award further submissions, with a prize of its choice. Eligible candidates shall have no claim to receive such recognition/award. The decisions made by the Evaluators cannot be appealed against.
Copyright: AIJA shall be fully entitled to publish, electronically and in any other format, the winning submission in any AIJA’s publications in any format or language. The Winner will be fully accredited as creator of the content.
Promotion and Collaboration: AIJA shall be fully entitled to publish the Winner’s (as well as any other award recipient’s) name, video and photo for publicity purposes on the AIJA websites (www.aija.org, awards.aija.org), newsletters, social media, as well as third party partners’ websites. AIJA may require the Winner (as well as any other award recipients) to attend in reasonable scope its online activities, such as an online meeting of its bodies concerning the Award or this competition, or a webinar.