In 2012, the European Law Students Association Malta and the Elsa Malta Law Review, a sub-committee of Elsa Malta, the local branch European Law Students’ Association, under the patronage of Professor David J. Attard, director at IMLI Malta, together with the invaluable help of Wilfred Kenely from the RIDT, organised the first edition of the IMLI essay competition.

This essay competition sought essays on any topic of International Maritime Law, the only requirement being that such topics must have formed part of the current IMLI LL.M. syllabus. The competition was open to all Elsa members, being law students studying in Malta as well as in any of Elsa International’s other regional networks. All essays had to be 5,000-6,000 words in length.

The first and second prizes were generously offered by Professor Attard personally, and were co-ordinated by Mr Kenely. The first placed entry was offered a €600 cash prize, while the second placed essay was offered a book prize.

In total, four essays were received, one from Elsa Helsinki, one from Elsa Prague and two from Elsa Malta. The top two placed entries hailed from Elsa Malta, with David Testa placing first with his essay entitled: Liability and Insurance for the Carriage of Passengers by Sea under Regulation 392/2009: Providing a Lifeline to the Cruise Industry and Ensuring Proper Compensation for Passengers in the Event of Accidents while Kristina Miggiani placed second with her essay Towards Universality and Uniformity: Combating the Jurisdictional Challenges Facing the Prosecution of Somali Pirates in Light of the Legal Void Left by UNCLOS.

All essays were judged impartially by a four-judge judging panel, headed by Dr Norman A. Martínez Gutiérrez, a Faculty Board member and senior lecturer at IMLI.

An awards ceremony was held recently to confer the prizes to the above-mentioned two students at the IMLI premises, based at the University of Malta grounds in Msida. Present were Mr Testa and Ms Miggiani, a number of IMLI staff and students, Elsa Malta Executive Board members, members of the Editorial Board of the Elsa Malta Law Review, together with distinguished guests such as Professor Attard, Dr Martínez Gutiérrez, other members of the judging panel and Mr Kenely.

Furthermore, there was also in attendance Dr Philippe Boisson, Communication director and Legal Advisor of the Bureau Veritas, Marine Division; H.E. Mr Luis Latorre Tapia, Ambassador of Ecuador and Ms Dominikia Mejia Lachowicz, Second Secretary.

Elsa Malta is tasked with organising a number of social and academic activities for Maltese law students. Representing over 300,000 law students worldwide, the Elsa network is renowned for its innovative and dynamic initiatives keeping law students up-to-date with legal happenings as well as providing a multicultural forum within which law students from across the globe are able to interact in a variety of ways.

Meanwhile, the Elsa Malta Law Review, being a sub-committee of Elsa Malta is responsible for the annual publication of the Elsa Malta Law Review, whose third edition is currently being compiled. The Editorial Board, in close collaboration with the Academic Activities sector of Elsa Malta is also responsible for organising a number of essay competitions over the academic year on a wide array of subjects. Since the inception of the Elsa Malta Law Review in August 2010, seven essay competitions have been organised on a vast range of topics, including International Maritime Law, EU Law, Bio Law and Human Rights, as well as Financial Services Law.

More information about Elsa Malta and the Elsa Malta Law Review can be found online at www.elsa.org.mt and www.elsamaltalawreview.com