The Inner Temple as part of the 2008 renewal of its commitment to furthering the study and development of the law and the education and training of those who practise or intend to practise it, has established a valuable prize, to be known as the Inner Temple Book Prize. There will in fact be two prizes, one of £10,000 and one for “young authors” of £2,500, to be awarded for the first time in December 2008, and thereafter every three years.
The Prize is intended to encourage and reward the writing of books which make an outstanding scholarly contribution to the understanding of the law as administered in England and Wales. The Prize will be open to authors of any nationality or domicile, provided their book is published in the English language.
The two thousand five hundred pound prize will be confined to “young authors” i.e. those who, at the date of publication are within ten years of being awarded a first degree or being admitted as a practising lawyer (whether in any part of the United Kingdom or elsewhere) whichever period is the shorter. It is intended that the Prizes will be offered again in 2011, and thereafter at three-yearly intervals.
To be eligible for an award, the book must be an original work, first published in print (whether in the United Kingdom or elsewhere) between 1 January 2006 and 1 April 2008. The book must be in the English language (although a published English translation of a work first written in another language will be considered). Books jointly authored by no more than three writers are eligible (the prize in such a case being shared between the authors) but reprints, reissues and multi-authored collections of essays, conference proceedings and the like are not. The criterion to be applied in deciding on the award of the Prizes is the extent to which the book makes an outstanding scholarly contribution to the understanding of the law as administered in England and Wales. But subject to that consideration, works dealing with international law, comparative law, the law of the European Union, the Commonwealth (or other international organisation), legal history, legal philosophy, sociology of law, or criminology and the treatment of offenders will be eligible for consideration.
For further information, see: http://www.innertemplebookprize.org/index.html
