On the occasion of the 41st Round Table on Current Issues of International Humanitarian Law the International Institute of Humanitarian Law and the International Committee of the Red Cross are pleased to launch our very first ‘Sanremo New Voices in International Humanitarian Law’ essay competition.

The winner will be invited to present at the Round Table in Sanremo (Italy) on 6-8 September 2018 and to publish the essay in the Conference proceedings.

The topic of the 2018 Round Table will be ‘Deprivation of liberty and armed conflicts: Exploring realities and remedies’. Expert discussions will focus primarily on detention during armed conflicts. One panel will also address the closely related issue of immigration-related detention.

The International Institute of Humanitarian Law and the International Committee of the Red Cross have the pleasure of inviting the submission of short essays, which address questions related to one of the following broad topics:

➡ Detention by non-State armed groups

➡ Migration-related detention

Eligibility of submissions

In order to be eligible for consideration by the organizers, essays must be

  • Written by one person, in English or French, and no longer than 2500 words (including footnotes);
  • Submitted by a person who is either 35 years old or younger, or is enrolled in a PhD programme, provided that the person is no more than 38 years old;
  • Submitted by a person who is not a staff member of the ICRC or of the IIHL (interns/ associates are eligible);
  • Fall under one of two broad topics: ‘Detention by non-States armed groups’, or ‘Immigration-related detention’;
  • Received by the organizers by 15 June 2018 (midnight, CET).

Submission procedure

  • All essays must be submitted, in PDF format, to gva_reunions_dp_jur@icrc.org and to alessandra@iihl.org (Subject: ‘Submission for the 2018 essay competition). Questions may be directed to the same email addresses.
  • Please make sure that the essay does not contain the author’s name in order to facilitate anonymous review. However, it must contain the title of the essay.
  • Please include the following information in the cover email: Full name of the author; full address and email address; phone number; date of birth; affiliation/occupation; title of the essay; a sentence stating that the author is the sole author of the essay and that the essay meets all eligibility criteria.
  • By submitting an essay, candidates confirm that they fulfil the eligibility requirements of the competition. The organizers may request formal proof of eligibility.
  • The organizers will acknowledge receipt of all essays.

Selection procedure

  • The organizers will review the essays and select a winner based on the substantive quality of the essay, along with its relevance to the above-proposed topics. The persons reviewing the essays will not know the identity of the author.
  • The winner will be invited to present the essay as part of a panel during the 41st Sanremo Round 
Table on Current Issues of International Humanitarian Law, which will take place 
on 6-8 September 2018 in Sanremo, Italy.
  • The co-organizers will fund travel costs and accommodation for the winner.
  • Once a winner is selected, all participants will be notified.