Landmark Chambers is committed to supporting aspiring barristers through a programme of annual competitions. Alongside our established Property Law and Judicial Review Moot competitions, 2025 also marks the launch of the Richard Drabble KC Essay Prize in Human Rights Law.
Further details regarding each competition may be found below.
Each year, Landmark Chambers runs two flagship moot competitions in Property Law and Judicial Review, offering students the opportunity to develop their understanding of these core areas of practice and gain valuable insight into legal advocacy. After three knockout rounds, the competitions culminate in a Grand Final at the Royal Courts of Justice, where the highest-scoring advocates each win £500 and the opportunity to undertake a mini-pupillage in Chambers.
In 2025, we are also delighted to introduce the Richard Drabble KC Essay Prize in Human Rights Law. This new competition invites students to submit a short essay on a set question, with the winning entry recognised through a mini-pupillage, publication opportunities and the prestige of having their work highlighted at Landmark’s annual Human Rights Law Conference. Runners-up will also receive prizes in recognition of their achievement.
Further information may be found by clicking on the respective tabs above.
The Richard Drabble KC Essay Prize competition for Human Rights Law is now closed.
Landmark’s recently retired Richard Drabble KC was called to the Bar in 1975 and over a career spanning nearly five decades and countless appearances in the highest courts became a giant of the public law Bar. Richard’s practice spanned all aspects of public law, with a particular emphasis on social security, immigration, environmental, planning, local government and human rights law. He has appeared at all levels of the domestic court system, including the Supreme Court and the House of Lords, as well as the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Richard is a Bencher of Inner Temple, a former Chair of the Administrative Law Bar Association (ALBA) and a current member of the Bar Council's Law Reform Committee (previously Vice-Chair).
In honour of his legacy, Chambers is pleased to announce the inaugural Richard Drabble KC Essay Prize for Human Rights Law, an opportunity for students and aspiring barristers with an interest in pursuing a career at the Bar specialising in public law and human rights law to engage with current questions and challenges in the field.
Participants are invited to submit a 2,000–2,500 word essay addressing the following question:
What is the most significant UK human rights case to have been wrongly decided, and why?
A first prize of £1,000 will be awarded for an essay on this year’s topic. The winner will also receive:
Up to two runners up will also receive a cash prize of £250 as well as an invitation to the Landmark Chambers' Human Rights Law Conference on 2 October 2025 at Lincoln’s Inn.
Competition Deadline
Entries should be between 2000 and 2500 words inclusive of footnotes and should be submitted in Word or pdf format to humanrightsessay@landmarkchambers.co.uk by no later than 4pm on 18 September 2025.
The winner and runners up will be contacted in advance of the Landmark Human Rights Law Conference taking place at Lincoln’s Inn on 2 October 2025, where the final winner as judged by Richard Drabble KC will be announced.
Eligibility
The competition is open to aspiring barristers who have completed or are entering their final year of study towards a qualifying law degree (or equivalent qualification such as the GDL), who intend to practise at the Bar of England and Wales but who have not accepted a pupillage offer at the time of the submission deadline.
Queries regarding eligibility can be directed to humanrightsessay@landmarkchambers.co.uk.
Data Protection
Landmark Chambers’ data protection notice for the Richard Drabble KC Essay Prize for Human Rights Law may be accessed here.
Submission Information
Submissions should also be anonymised, with all relevant contact information included in the body of the email:
Entrants should adhere to the following style guidelines:
By submitting an entry, participants agree to be bound by the Competition Plagiarism Policy.
If you have any questions regarding the essay competition, please contact humanrightsessay@landmarkchambers.co.uk.
Landmark's annual Property Moot Competition has been running for eleven consecutive years and provides students who are particularly interested in Property law, an opportunity to develop their understanding of the subject and gain some insight into the realities of practice through meeting members of Landmark’s Property Team.
LLB, LLM, GDL and BPC students have attended from over 50 different universities and compete in front of a range of Landmark’s barristers.
Property Moot Competition 2025-2026
The first round of the competition will take place in-person on Saturday 15 November 2025, at our Chambers in London. During the first round every student who enters the moot will be provided with the opportunity not only to hone their research, drafting and advocacy skills, but also to hear more from us about life at Landmark and at the Property Bar. To that end, and in addition to the moots themselves, competitors will be given the opportunity to participate in a property law workshop with members of Chambers’ Property Team and to ask our Pupillage Committee questions about the pupillage application process and the structure of pupillage itself.
Whilst all moot problems will be property-based, we are aware that there are some areas of a property practice which remain wholly unfamiliar to undergraduate students, and we shall be mindful of this throughout the competition.
Entering a Team
If you are an LLB, LLM, GDL or BPC student and would like to register your university ahead of this year’s competition please send an email to: propertymoot@landmarkchambers.co.uk before Monday 13 October 2025.
Please note that Landmark Chambers will only accept one team per University and would therefore prefer to be contacted by a member of faculty, or the person responsible for the organisation of external moots.
Landmark's annual Judicial Review Moot Competition has been running for seven consecutive years and has been designed to provide students with an opportunity to apply planning and environmental law in a public law context, and gain insight into some of Chambers’ key practice areas, prior to applying for pupillage.
LLB, LLM, GDL and BPC students have attended from over 50 different universities and compete in front of a range of Landmark’s barristers.
Judicial Review Moot 2025-2026
The first round of the competition will take place in-person on Saturday 22 November 2025, at our Chambers in London. During the first round every student who enters the moot will be provided with the opportunity not only to hone their research, drafting and advocacy skills, but also to hear more from us about life at Landmark and at the Planning and Environmental Bar. To that end, and in addition to the moots themselves, competitors will be given the opportunity to participate in a Planning and Environmental law workshop with members of Chambers’ Planning and Environmental Teams and ask our Pupillage Committee questions about the pupillage application process and the structure of pupillage itself.
We are aware that there are some areas of planning and environmental practice which remain wholly unfamiliar to students and, whilst all moot problems will be public law based, we emphasise that no prior knowledge of planning or environmental law is required in order to participate. Furthermore, we will endeavour to provide useful resources such as sample skeleton arguments in order to assist competitors with participating in the moots.
Entering a Team
If you are an LLB, LLM, GDL or BPC student and would like to register your university ahead of this year’s competition please send an email to: judicialreviewmoot@landmarkchambers.co.uk before Monday 20 October 2025.
Please note that Landmark Chambers will only accept one team per University and would therefore prefer to be contacted by a member of faculty or the person responsible for the organisation of external moots.
Watch our series of video guides to the Judicial Review process here.
