Council of Europe and ELSA essay competition: freedom of speech

In cooperation with ELSA (the European Law Students Association), the Council of Europe has launched two competitions to mark the 60th anniversary of the European Convention on Human Rights. The competitions are open to law students across Europe.

Under the slogan 'Our Rights, Our Freedoms', the competition is designed to appraise the achievements and shortcomings of the Convention and of its monitoring organ the European Court of Human Rights. The subject of the essay competition is:

What is the role of freedom of speech in a democratic society and where are its limits?

The theme for the photography competition is the impact of the Strasbourg human rights protection system on the everyday lives of Europeans.

There are three individual prizes in the essay category and three group prizes in the photo report category. In the essay category, the prizes are:

1st prize: 3,000 €
2nd prize: 2,000 €
3rd prize: 1,000 €

The group prizes in the photo report category are:

1st prize: 5,000 €
2nd prize: 3,000 €
3rd prize: 2,000 €

Further guidance can be garnered from the competition website.