An essay competition

The Supreme Court of Canada is pleased to announce an essay competition for Canada’s law students. The competition is being organized in connection with the Supreme Court’s 150th anniversary in 2025. Various activities will be held throughout the year to mark this anniversary, which will be an opportunity for the legal community and the general public to reflect on the Court’s role in Canadian society. By launching this competition, the Court would like to make it possible for the student community to participate in this reflection as well. 

Participants in the competition must choose one of the Supreme Court of Canada’s leading decisions and discuss its current and especially its future implications for the relevant area of Canadian law, including any opportunities for further development of the law.

The author of the winning essay will be invited to attend a symposium organized by the Supreme Court in cooperation with the National Judicial Institute in Ottawa on April 10-11, 2025 (and their related travel expenses will be covered). In addition, excerpts from the top essays submitted will likely be published in the Supreme Court of Canada’s 2025 Year in Review following the competition.

Terms and conditions for participating in the competition

Eligibility

The competition is open to persons who are undergraduate or graduate students at a law school in Canada during the competition and to Canadians studying at a law school outside Canada.

Technical rules

Essays must be:

• in English or French;
• no longer than 8,000 words (including footnotes) for texts submitted in English or 8,800 words (including footnotes) for texts submitted in French;
• prepared according to the Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation;
• unpublished (and not yet accepted for publication) as of June 1, 2024;
• in 12 point font and double-spaced, with a 2.5 cm margin on all sides;
• page-numbered in the upper right corner;
• submitted in MS Word format;
• introduced by a separate document indicating the title of the essay and the author’s name and contact information (including email address), together with a statement attesting that the author meets the eligibility criteria and that the essay is unpublished; and
• accompanied by an abstract of no more than 200 words summarizing the argument and conclusions.

While participants retain copyright in their essay, by taking part in the competition they grant the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada the right to reproduce, publish and use their essay or excerpts therefrom in any of the Court’s publications or any means of communication or dissemination used by the Court.

Essay submission deadline

January 10, 2025, at 1 p.m. (Ottawa time).

Essays are to be emailed to 150@scc-csc.ca. All questions and requests for information about the competition can be sent to the same email address.

Essay evaluation criteria

Essays will be evaluated by a jury composed of judges of the Supreme Court of Canada on the basis of their compliance with the competition rules and the rigour and originality of the legal analysis.

Announcement of the winning essay

The winning essay and its author will be announced in February 2025.