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After more than 4 months since announcing the competition, the SLR has brought together the best and most interesting pieces on Discrimination together for the International Writing Symposium, to be held at the Moot Court on 25 and 26 August 2008. It promises to be an event for law undergraduates in Singapore with many events planned alongside the judging of the shortlisted entries.

International Writing Symposium

The SLR is proud to be able to bring essays from almost every part of the world that is sure to excite and interest law students. From essays that discuss issues close to the heart of Singaporeans (such as James Little’s essay comparing Freedom of Religion with Freedom from Discrimination) to themes that are fascinating and able to offer a different perspective to how we approach Discrimination (such as Emmi Okada’s essay on Indigenious peoples and the law as well as Dhanda Jujhar’s piece on UK’s approach to discrimination in the workplace based on Sexual Orientation), there is something for everyone in the SLR Symposium.

Also included in the Symposium is a special session focused on Discrimination on Women and Children. The essays slated for this session are Johanna Lorenzo’s piece on how a de facto ban on contraceptives discriminate against women in the Philippines, NUS’s Nik Sim and Amardeep Singh’s piece on the Battered Woman Syndrome and Anjana Agrawal’s essay on family planning policies in India and China and how they discriminate against girls in those countries.

Those interested in attending may refer to the Timetable, the Posters around the NUS Law School or the Programme books available during the event to see which presentations are on which time and attend the ones they would like to hear. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet and discuss the issues and solutions presented by the contestants (who knows, your question may sway the judges opinion on the contestant’s piece!). Refreshments will be provided at all sessions of the Symposium, so do come down, even if all you want to do is to listen to something new and interesting!

Juris Illuminae

The newest issue of the SLR’s Juris Illuminae centers around Discrimination — the theme of the inaugural International Writing Symposium. Besides featuring some of the contestants you will meet in the Symposium, this issue of Juris also has write ups on Discrimination such as a comparison between Singapore and Hong Kong’s approach to gender orientation discrimination in the media, how discrimination might rear its head in the Horizon Towers case and an Interview with Ast/Prof Arun Thiruvengdam on Constitutional Law and Equality. Look out for it in your mail boxes late next week!

Closing Ceremony

We are honoured to have Judge of Appeal V.K. Rajah as our guest of honour to close the inaugural International Writing Symposium. We will be presenting the winners of the Symposium in this ceremony and (if not for the free food) students are strongly encouraged to attend to witness the proceedings and interact with the guests and contestants.

SLR IWS Sponsors TS Oon and Bazul will also be hosting a pre-ceremony tea to meet students. Come down to meet lawyers from this dynamic and fast-growing firm.

Website

The SLR IWS Website (this one you’re reading now) will be featuring the contestants day by day in the countdown to the Symposium. The website will also be updated with soft copies of the posters and programme book for download.

The Website also contains directions to the Moot Court (the main venue of the Symposium) and other useful information in its downloads.

The Singapore Law Review International Writing Symposium is organised by the Singapore Law Review, a Law Club sub-club in the National University of Singapore. The Symposium is proudly supported by the National University of Singapore Law Faculty, the Singapore Academy of Law and TS Oon and Bazul.

Anti Discriminatory Laws: Rationale, Objectives and Functioning - A Comparison of Indian and Brazilian Laws

Shruti Viswanathan, National Law School of India University

25 August 2008, 0945, Moot Court

Shruti opens the first Singapore Law Review International Writing Symposium with an essay that presents many of the best aspects of the Symposium - the opportunity for comparative law, exploring the theoretical and jurisprudential basis of law and drawing their parallels with the society affected by it. Be an early bird and catch the Symposium in the thick of action!

Abstract

Many countries, the world over, pride themselves on having implemented anti discriminatory laws and subscribing severe penal consequences for violation of the same. Each coercive law requires a reason that will justify the use of force. Equality is the pivot around which anti discriminatory laws today revolve. Fair opportunity and achievement of an egalitarian, discrimination free society is often touted as their objectives. Keeping this in mind this paper looks at the experiences of India and Brazil with respect to anti discriminatory laws. The paper challenges the impact of law and legal mechanisms in transforming traditional orders and preventing discrimination. It is argued that even when anti discriminatory laws are passed this in itself it is not an automatic solution to the problem of discrimination. In fact the presence of an inadequate anti discrimination law could prove more harmful as the presence of a law often legitimizes legal and thereby socio-economic status quo.

Shruti is a fourth-year law student from the National Law School of India University who is interested in inter-disciplinary legal studies. “I believe that in today’s ever shrinking world, law has a defining role to play in shaping society… It is important that we begin to compare experiences from across the world as this would help us work towards a viable and effective solution to our common problems.”

The Singapore Law Review is proud to present the Shortlist for the International Writing Symposium 2008. Overall we received many entries, many of which were fascinating in their own right and reflected the international nature of the competition. We were very much encouraged despite the fact that this is the inaugural competition. Even so, this caused the Shortlist judges some difficulty in selecting the best. Nevertheless, listed below (in no particular order) will be presenting their essays in the National University of Singapore from 25 to 26 August 2008.

• Emmi Okada (University of Sydney, Australia) “The Indigenous, the Imperial and the International: A Contextual Comparison of Laws Concerning the Ainu of Japan and Australian Aborigines”
• Attaran, Naghmeh (McGill University, Canada) “THE STRUGGLE FOR ACCESS TO ALTERNATE BOOK FORMATS BY PRINT-DISABLED STUDENTS”
• Greg Miller (University of Western Ontario, Canada) “Can a Corporation Sue for Discrimination?”
• Shruti Viswanathan (National Law School of India University, India) “Anti-discriminatory Laws: Rationale, Objectives and Functioning - A Comparison of Indian and Brazilian Laws”
• Shatadru Chakraborty (NALSAR University of Law, India) “DISCRIMINATION AGAINST WORKERS UNDER THE SPECIAL ECONOMIC ZONES ACT, 2005 – A HINDRANCE TO INDIA’S DEVELOPMENT”
• Anjana Agarwal (National Law School of India University, India) “FAMILY PLANNING POLICIES AND RESULTANT DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE GIRL CHILD – A STUDY OF INDIA AND CHINA”
• James Little (University of Auckland, New Zealand) “Religious Freedom as Freedom from Discrimination”
• Johanna Aleria P. Lorenzo (University of the Philippines, Philippines) “GIVING LIFE TO THE RIGHT TO NOT CONCEIVE: What the Law and Society in the Philippines Must Do for Its Women”
• Sim Shi Qiang, Amardeep Singh (NUS, Singapore) “DISCRIMINATION: HELP OR HINDRANCE? – LISTENING TO THE BATTERED WOMAN’S SILENT SCREAMS”
• DHANDA Jujhar (University of Glasgow/ on exchange in University of Hong Kong, UK/HK) “Sexual Orientation & Genuine Occupational Requirements”

We will be featuring our IWS Shortlisted Entries in this website in the run up to the Symposium and more details as to how you can participate are on the way! Shortlisted essays stand to take home the top prize of USD$3,000 and more, so we will be wishing our finalist best of luck!

The SLR IWS is organised by the Singapore Law Review and is proudly supported by the National University of Singapore Law Faculty, the Singapore Academy of Law and TS Oon and Bazul.

One more week left to the Deadline! Are your entries ready for submission? For those preparing to hand it to iws@singaporelawreview.org, this checklist could help you out with preparing that submission.

• Grab the IWS Entry Form and fill it up with your particulars. Are you writing as a team, send us a note to confirm your team’s participation: http://iws.singaporelawreview.org/contact-us/.
• Does you entry qualify? Take a quick look at the Question and note the word-limits. Take a fast look at the House Style (Rules and Regulation, s. 26) so we won’t look at your entry unfavourably.
• Have you got your essay seconded by someone in your faculty?  (Rules and Regulation, s. 8 ) It’s also in the Entry Form.
• Send one Electronic Copy of the Essay (in DOC or RTF format) and the entry form in one email to this address: iws@singaporelawreview.org.
• Sent it already? Make sure you receive a confirmation from us within 24 hours of your submission! If not, send us an email or contact us, and we’ll sort it out as soon as possible.
• We will contact short listed participants around the 20th of July.

Good luck on the last leg of the Writing Competition and we’ll hope we can welcome you for the Symposium on 25-26 August 2008!

*Note: there are some queries regarding a clash of the rules regarding whether autobiographical information (entrant’ name, school, id etc) should appear in the entry. We will appreciate if no information will appear in the entry. Thanks!

About a month left before the submission deadline, people. Good luck!

Thank you all for your enthusiastic feedback and response to the inaugural International Writing Symposium so far! We understand that since this is the first time the competition is being held, there would be quite many queries. we’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions that have been asked so far. Click Read More to find 0ut more.

Don’t let your questions get in the way of your decision to join the competition! Contact us if you are unsure about any aspect of the competition.

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On a slightly unrelated note, the 25th Volume of the Singapore Law Review has been published. This volumes features entries from our SLR Writing Competition in 2007, a precursor of this year’s International Writing Symposium. You can find out more about that issue from this link.

Publication in the Singapore Law Review is a part of the prize offered for the best entries in the SLR Writing Symposium. Here’s wishing our participants good luck at this stage of their writing!

Welcome to the SLR’s official Website for the Singapore Law Review International Writing Symposium. As you can see, much of this is under construction, so we’d be bringing updates as and when they come and highlight them on this site. Do subscribe to our RSS feed (see sidebar) to be kept in the loop for our latest updates! We thank you for your patience.