The Lieber Society, an Interest Group of the American Society of International Law, bestows each year, without regard to nationality, a prize for an exceptional writing that enhances understanding of the law of war by a person serving in the regular or reserve armed forces of any nation.
The Prize. The winner will receive a certificate confirming that he or she has won the 2010 Lieber Society Military Prize, $500.00, and a one-year membership to the American Society of International Law (ASIL). The judges may also select two additional persons to receive Lieber Society Certificates of Merit.
Request for Assistance. Any person receiving this Call for Papers who is aware of an exceptional writing that meets the qualifications of this competition is requested to nominate the paper directly to the Lieber Society and forward this Call to the author of that paper.
Definition of the Law of War. For this competition, the Law of War is that part of international law that regulates the conduct of armed hostilities. Papers may address any aspect of the law of war, including, but not limited to: the use of force in international law, the conduct of hostilities during international and non-international armed conflicts, protected persons and protected objects, the law of weapons, rules of engagement, treatment of detainees, to include interrogation procedures, and occupation law. Papers addressing practical problems confronting members of armed forces are preferred.
Qualifications for entering the competition. Persons submitting papers do not have to be ASIL members. They may be citizens of any nation, but they must be a member of their nation’s regular or reserve armed forces.
Papers that may be entered. Papers submitted in this competition must be in English (or translated into English if written in another language) and not more than 35 pages long if printed with single line spacing or 70 pages if written with double line spacing. Both papers that have been published and papers that have not been published will be considered for the Prize.
Required Contact Data. All submissions must contain the following data on the author of the paper: full name and rank or rating, current postal and e-mail addresses, current telephone and fax numbers. If a person other than the author is making the submission, it must also contain the above data for the person submitting the paper.
Deadline for submitting papers. Papers for the 2010 competition must be received no later than Friday, January 2, 2010.
Use of email to submit papers. Electronic submissions in Adobe format (.pdf) or Microsoft Word (.doc) will be accepted. They should be sent to ejensen3@law.fordham.edu
Use of the postal system to submit papers. Submissions by postal mail must be sent to:
Eric Talbot Jensen
6322 Hillsborough Drive
Falls Church, VA 22044
If the postal system is used, two copies of the paper must be submitted.
Acknowledgement of submissions. All submissions will be acknowledged by e-mail.
Announcement of winner. The winner and any persons receiving Certificates of Merit will be announced at the 2010 Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law in Washington, DC, March 2010.