Judging

This criteria includes:

• Highest standards in legal journalism 

• Information value and/or educational merit 

• Creativity 

• Thoroughness, and 

• Impact. 

The Adjudication Committee may, or may not, elect to present Justice Media Awards or Merit Certificates in each category. The number of awards made is at the discretion of the committee. Principal factors when judging are:

• the value of the entry in promoting the objectives outlined under 'About the Awards,
  

• the judging criteria listed above, and

• compliance with the rules of the competition.

No correspondence is entered into in relation to judging criteria or judging decisions. The presentation of an award by the Law Society is not contingent upon, and does not necessarily represent, an endorsement by the Law Society of winning entrants' views.

Eligibility

• Any individual or media organisation that has published a newspaper article or has made a broadcast in Ireland is eligible to submit entries to the Justice Media Awards. There are exceptions - see 'Prohibitions' below. 

• Entries may relate to the work of the legislature, judiciary, legal profession, law enforcement agencies, penal institutions or to the law itself and may be current, historical or futuristic. 

• Only materials originally published or broadcast during the period 1 March 2024 to 28 February 2025 will be considered.  

• Entry is free but there is a limit of three entries per journalist (or team of journalists) in each category.

Prohibitions

• The submitted articles/broadcasts must be intended for the general public and not a particular audience with specialist knowledge. 

• The principal occupation of the author(s)/broadcaster(s) of entries in the respective categories must be one of the following: journalist, broadcaster or filmmaker with exception to category 16 where the principal occupation of the author must have been full-time student in Ireland at the time of publication/broadcast. 

• The competition is not open to legal publications or journals primarily intended to be read by lawyers, or textbooks published for lawyers or law students. 

• Materials prepared by, or associated with, any member of staff of the Law Society or member of the Adjudication Committee of the Justice Media Awards are ineligible. 

• Entries may be disqualified if they do not comply with the rules governing the form of submission of entries. 

Data protection notice 

• By entering into the Justice Media Awards, you accept the terms and conditions of entry, including the data protection notice, which can be read here.

For more information, please refer to our FAQs.