Assisted dying – MPs have given it the provisional go-ahead, but how might the creation of what the justice secretary criticised as the state offering death as "a service" change society’s and the law’s approach to death?
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill sparked fraught and emotional debate before being passed at the end of November by 330 votes to 275. It proposes giving terminally ill people the right to request and be provided with assistance to end their lives. Crucially, a High Court judge will have to rule on every application, with those eligible required to be diagnosed with a terminal illness that is expected to kill them within six months. Once granted, individuals would have a fortnight’s cooling-off period before being offered a fatal substance prepared by a doctor. Proposed protections for the process sparked some of the fiercest debate. It will be unlawful to use dishonesty, pressure or coercion when discussing assisted death with individuals, and offenders will face up to 14 years in jail.
Do the safeguards in the Bill provide sufficient protection for the risks involved, bearing in mind vulnerable people, the risks of coercion, and uncertainties in medical diagnoses? The Family Division of the High Court is already burdened with a backlog of cases – will assisted dying applications overload judges? Is it fair to expect judges to take decisions in such cases, and should the law be an instrument of death in this way?
The essay competition is open to all students registered with UK higher education institutes, pupil barristers and trainee solicitors. Essays should be no more than 1,000 words and must be received by midday on Monday, 17 February 2025. There are more than £10,000 of prizes on offer to the six finalists, whose entries will be read by a judging panel of senior figures, including a justice of the Supreme Court, and Daniel Toledano KC and Sonia Tolaney KC from One Essex Court. The awards will be presented at a dinner ceremony at the Guildhall in the City of London in May this year. Full rules and entry details can be found below.
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Winners
Times Law Awards: Winners
Download the winning essays from previous competitions:
- 2024: "AI: opportunity or threat for the legal profession?"
- 1st: Henrik Tiemroth
- 2nd: Jonathan Stelzer
- 3rd: Maximilan Mutkin
- Runner-up: Jay Staker
- Runner-up: Laura Wilson
- Runner-up: Jonathan Macarthy
- 2023: "Should states and private parties be entitled to recover reparations from aggressor states, and if so, how?"
- 1st: Elijah Bossa
- 2nd: Olivia Horn
- 3rd: Veniomin Kiraikou
- Runner-up: Farid Ahmed
- Runner-up: David Zuther
- Runner-up: Robyn Wickers
- 2022: “To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice.” Magna Carta clause 40. Is the state financing the criminal justice system properly and, if not, is privatisation a possible solution? Would this mean selling justice?"
- 1st: Jeffrey Chu
- 2nd: William Kitchen
- 3rd: Thomas Beardsworth
- Runner-up: James Cox
- Runner-up: Willem de Vries
- Runner-up: Frank Lawton
- 2021: Stereotyping and unconscious racial bias: stumbling blocks for parties, witnesses and aspirant lawyers alike. How should the law and the profession respond?
- 1st: Carola Binney
- 2nd: Michael O'Connor
- 3rd: Afiya Amesu
- Runner-up: Eugene Tang
- Runner-up: Theo Dixon
- Runner-up: Charlene Hamilton
- 2020: Taming the Social Media Giants: How far should the state go in regulating online content?
- 1st: James Kane
- 2nd: Kathryn Handley
- 3rd: Talodabioluwa Olu-Odugbemi
- Runner-up: Antonio Fanna
- Runner-up: Talia Zybutz
- Runner-up: Charlie Colenutt
- 2019: Brexit: A threat or an opportunity for UK lawyers and legal London?
- 1st: George Croft
- 2nd: Nyasha Weinberg
- 3rd: Alexander Shaw
- Runner-up: William Beddows
- Runner-up: Sam Dayan
- Runner-up: Elijah Bossa
- 2018: Should history be rewritten in line with modern day views of human rights?
- 1st: Spencer Turner
- 2nd: Yuan Yi Zhu
- 3rd: Katie Ratcliffe
- Runner-up: Harry Balfour-Lynn
- Runner-up: Max Twivy
- Runner-up: KayKay Marivate
- 2017: Brexit: should Parliament be able to overrule the referendum?
- 1st: Genevieve Woods
- 2nd: Leo Kirby
- 3rd: Yuan Yi Zhu
- Runner-up: Dominic Behar
- Runner-up: James Kirby
- Runner-up: Krishan Nadesan
- 2015: Is Magna Carta more honoured in the breach?
- 1st: James Green
- 2nd: Ian McDonald
- 3rd: Alex Courtnage
- Runner-up: Natalie Cargill
- Runner-up: Christopher Sykes
- Runner-up: Francesca Norris
- 2014: Morality versus legality: When is war justified?
- 1st: George White
- 2nd: James Beeton
- 3rd: Lara Hassell
- Runner-up: Daniel Webb
- Runner-up: Birju Kotecha
- Runner-up: Koo Asakura
- 2013: Privacy and the Press: is state regulation in the public interest?
- 1st: Dr. Andrew Lomas
- 2nd: Lara Hassell
- 3rd: Gillian Hughes
- Runner-up: Elizabeth Houghton
- Runner-up: Henry Mance
- Runner-up: Joel McMillan
- 2012: Cameras in court: justice's loss or gain?
- 1st: James Potts
- 2nd: Thomas Coates
- 3rd: Eirwen-Jane Pierrot
- Runner-up: Edward Granger
- Runner-up: Kyle Lawson
- Runner-up: Jamie Susskind
- 2011: Justice under the axe: can the Government's cuts be fair?
- 1st: Anthony Pavlovich
- 2nd: Andrew McIntyre
- 3rd: David Mead
- Runner-up: Stephen Donnelly
- Runner-up: Adam Myers
- Runner-up: Jack Simpson
- 2010: Supreme Court UK: Radical change, or business as usual?
- 1st: Anita Davies
- 2nd: Ian Higgins
- 3rd: Ian McFarlane
- Runner-up: Natalie Kyneswood
- Runner-up: Jack Pailing
- Runner-up: Ben Zurawel
- 2009: Should people in the public eye have a right to privacy?
- 1st: Bryan Adams
- 2nd: Alexander Halban
- 3rd: Fraser Campbell
- Runner-up: Dominic Brown
- Runner-up: Lee Howard
- Runner-up: Justin Leslie
- 2008: In the bank or under the bed: Should the law protect your money?
- 1st: Ben Zurawel
- 2nd: Fraser Campbell
- 3rd: Peter Head
- Runner-up: Robert Grindrod
- Runner-up: Christopher Lillywhite
- Runner-up: Tom Xavier
- 2007: Extradition to foreign courts: are our laws fair?
- 1st: Andrew McIntyre
- 2nd: David Roderick
- 3rd: Helen Nugent
- Runner-up: William East
- Runner-up: Edward Ho
- Runner-up: Greg Unwin
- 2006: Terrorism -v- Human Rights - Where do you draw the line ?
- 1st: Amy Rogers
- 2nd: Tim McAtackney
- 3rd: Alexander Roy
- Runner-up: Charles Dawson
- Runner-up: Emma Douglas
- Runner-up: Andrew McIntyre
- 2005: Tesco Law: The Shape of Things to Come? Will Clementi be good for consumers but bad for lawyers?
- 1st: Fraser Campbell
- 1st: Sarah Love
- 3rd: Arturo John
- Runner-up: Criseyda Cox
- Runner-up: Edward Ho
- Runner-up: Alan Mak
- 2004: Constitutional Reform: Will the justice system benefit?
- 1st: James Brilliant
- 2nd: Nicholas Roberts
- 3rd: Yasseen Gailani
- Runner-up: Edward Ho
- Runner-up: James MacDonald
- Runner-up: Joanna McGinley
- 2003: Victims or Defendants - Can there be Justice For All?
- 1st: Adam Sher
- 2nd: Alexander Mills
- 3rd: Andrew Lang
- Runner-up: Caroline Moore
- Runner-up: Kasia Walawska
- Runner-up: Aidan Wilcox
- 2002: International terrorists: What role should the law play?
- 1st: Matthew Gullick
- 2nd: William Tautz
- 3rd: Jonathan Crompton
- Runner-up: Sarai Jacob
- Runner-up: Katy Ralph
- Runner-up: Andrew Roberts
- 2001: Ethical Dilemmas: Who should decide – lawyers, scientists or God?
- 1st: Jonathan Davey
- 2nd: Caroline Foster
- 3rd: Adrian Delmont
- Runner-up: Katrina Bochner
- Runner-up: Richard Hamilton
- Runner-up: Timothy Walker
- 2000: Crimes against humanity: Who has the right to intervene?
- 1st: Alice Marshment
- 2nd: Donna Eccott
- 3rd: Daniel Hubbard
- Runner-up: Joshua Hubbard
- Runner-up: Patrick Murphy
- Runner-up: C. Esther Wood
- 1998: Access to justice – who pays the price?
- 1st: Mike Thomas
- 2nd: Sarah Palin
- 3rd: Suzana Sava
- Runner-up: Alastair Ladkin
- Runner-up: David Lewis
- Runner-up: Andrea Markham
- Special prize winner: Rachael Levene
- 1997: Privacy and the Press: Is Law the answer?
- 1st: Adam Speker
- 2nd: Ben McFarlane
- 3rd: Paul McQuade
- Runner-up: Louise Oxford
- Runner-up: Sarah Palin
- Runner-up: Dominic Rose
- 1996: Law Lords in the 90’s – a new Supreme Court
- 1st: Elizabeth Errington
- 2nd: John McKeever
- 3rd: Kenneth Yap
- Runner-up: Nicholas Oakeshott
- Runner-up: Elisabeth Peden
- Runner-up: Richard Wald
- 1995: Advocacy – what is its future?
- 1st: Renuka Kukanesen
- 2nd: James Nicholls
- 3rd: Christopher Daniels
- Runner-up: Philip Daniels
- Runner-up: Jasbir Dhillon
- Runner-up: Daniel Raglan
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Rules
- The competition is open to all students in any discipline registered with a UK educational institution, together with all pupils and trainees with firms of solicitors or barristers' chambers established in the UK except employees of One Essex Court, Times Newspapers and News International and members of their families.
- Word limit: 1000 words
- The Times and One Essex Court, the organisers, have the right to publish or reproduce at any time all or part of any essay entered for the awards.
- The essay must be the sole creation and original work of the entrant.
- The organisers reserve the right to delete or omit from any published article anything that in their absolute discretion should not be published on editorial or legal grounds. Only one entry per person will be allowed.
- All entries will be acknowledged but not returned.
- The organisers accept no responsibility for the safekeeping of articles and entrants
- Essays should be submitted by e-mail to: tla@oeclaw.co.uk (Microsoft Word format only)
- When submitting your essay, please include your name, address, contact telephone number and details of the educational institution, barristers chambers or firm of solicitors that you belong to in the covering e-mail. Please do not include that information on the essay itself.
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Prizes
- 1st - £3,500
- 2nd - £2,500
- 3rd - £1,500
- Three runners up prizes of £1,000 each
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Essay Information
The title for this year's competition is:
“Assisted dying – MPs have given it the provisional go-ahead, but how might the creation of what the justice secretary criticised as the state offering death as "a service" change society’s and the law’s approach to death?”
The closing date for entries will be Monday, 17 February 2025 at midday.
Entries should be typed with double spacing and sent by e-mail in Microsoft Word format to:
or clearly handwritten and posted to:
The Times Law Awards c/o One Essex Court, Temple, London EC4Y 9AR
When sending in your essay, in the covering e-mail please include your name, address, contact telephone number and details of the educational institution, barristers chambers or firm of solicitors that you belong to. Please do not include that information on the essay itself.
The winners will hear by mid-April 2025 and the awards dinner will be held in May 2025.
Please contact Jackie Ginty (jginty@oeclaw.co.uk), Jack Miller (jmiller@oeclaw.co.uk) or Conor Mullane (cmullane@oeclaw.co.uk) if you have any queries.