IBP Journal - National Legal Writing Competition

The IBP Journal

National Legal Writing Competition

Contest Mechanics

I. Eligibility

The Competition is open to both Law Students and Lawyers in the Philippines. Entries will be sorted into these Two (2) categories.

    A. Students

    Bona fide students enrolled in the Juris Doctor program of any Philippine law school in the Philippines may participate in the Law Student Category. A maximum of two (2) students may co-write and submit a paper as co-authors. Co-authors may come from different schools.

    B. Lawyers

    Lawyers and Members of good standing of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) may submit an entry to the Lawyer Category.


II. Submission Guidelines

  1. Theme: The latest theme is “The Philippines’ Sovereignty Over the Kalayaan Island Group and Scarborough Shoal.” Entries must include an analysis of current issues, laws, jurisprudence, or principles relevant to the theme.Entries that merely describe or enumerate facts/issues/principles/etc. without providing analysis of legal issues are discouraged.
  2. Format: Entries.
    • a. Must be written in English or Filipino.
    • b. Length:
        1. i. Student Category – 2,500 to 4,000 words (excluding footnotes, appendices, tables, etc.)
        1. ii. Lawyer Category – 3,500 to 6,000 words (excluding footnotes, appendices, tables, etc.)
    • c. Fonts and Spacing:
        1. i. Body: Font size 12 pt., 1.5 spacing, Times New Roman or Book Antiqua
        1. ii. Footnotes: Font size 10 pt., 1 spacing, Times New Roman or Book Antiqua
    • d. Must be submitted in .PDF Format. No .Doc or .Docx submissions.
    • e. Not contain any personal identifying information.
  3. Footnotes and References. The entry must include sources and references to support the analysis and discussion. Authors are encouraged to refer to the Philippine Manual of Legal Citation or The Bluebook: An Uniform System of Citation when formatting their footnotes.
  4. Cover Sheet: A cover sheet containing the following information must be submitted as a separate file (in .PDF Format):

    5. i. Name :

    ii. Email Address :

    iii. Mobile Number :

    iv. Category - Law Student or Lawyer

    v. School (for Students), or Position and Organization (for Lawyers)

    vi. Total Word Count


  5. Original Work. By submitting to the Contest, authors warrant that the entry is the original work of the author and has not been published in any journal, law review, or any other publication, whether in the Philippines or in any foreign jurisdiction. Failure to comply, including the use of AI tools to draft an entry, will merit disqualification and/or revocation of any prize given.
  6. Maximum Number of Entries. Only one (1) entry per person is allowed, including joint entries by students.
  7. Submission. The entry must be sent to [email protected] or [email protected] with the Subject: NLWC Submission – [Name] [Category]. No printed or hard copies will be accepted.
  8. Deadline. Deadline of Entries is until May 15, 2025, 5:00 p.m. Late entries will not be accepted.

III. Judging

1. The entries will be reviewed by a panel of experts composed of and/or selected by the Journal’s Board of Editors.

2. All decisions of the judging panel are final and not appealable.


IV. Evaluation Criteria

1. Entries will be judged according to the following criteria:


V. Prizes

For each category, the winners will receive:


VI. Intellectual Property and Publication

By participating in the Contest, the participants assign the exclusive copyright of the entries to the IBP Journal. Winning entries may be published in the IBP Journal as well as other publications of the IBP at the sole discretion of the IBP.

In any use of the winning entries, proper attribution to the IBP and that it owns the copyright to the original work, must be made.