LHSS Legislative Review Competition 2026, for LHSS Journal Vol 1 Issue 2

The Law, Humanities and Social Sciences (LHSS) Collective at Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai invites you to take part in the LHSS Legislative Review Competition 2026. This is a short-form legislative analysis competition that asks you to critically examine a recently enacted law and assess how well it works in practice. It is a strong fit if you enjoy thinking about legislation beyond the bare text, looking at intent, enforcement, and real social impact.

What makes this competition worth your time is the publication route attached to it. The top three submissions are considered for the LHSS Journal, Volume 1, Issue 2, subject to editorial discretion. You also compete for cash prizes and a certificate, all under the banner of a recognised National Law University.

Maharashtra National Law University, Mumbai is a government National Law University established in 2014 by the Government of Maharashtra under Maharashtra Act VI of 2014. It is recognised under Section 2(f) of the UGC Act 1956 and approved by the Bar Council of India. The LHSS Collective is its interdisciplinary forum at the intersection of law, the humanities, and the social sciences, and it runs an associated blog and journal.

You are asked to write a legislative review of a law enacted between 2024 and 2026, read through a Global South lens. Your piece should engage with legislative intent, the realities of enforcement, and the wider impact on society, using interdisciplinary frameworks rather than a purely doctrinal reading.

You may anchor your review in one of the suggested thematic lenses:

• Rights of the immigrant and the migrant
• Labour, livelihood, and enabling the dispossessed
• State security versus social security
• Claims over traditional lands
• Digital welfarism and surveillance
• The vulnerable body and the ethics of care

The competition is open to law students and early-career legal professionals. You may submit either as an individual or as a group, with a maximum of two authors per entry. There are no further eligibility restrictions stated by the organiser, so submission is broadly open.

Your submission must follow these specifications:

• Word count: 1,500 to 2,500 words
• File format: MS Word (.doc or .docx), titled with the name of the legislation you are reviewing
• Citation style: Bluebook, 21st edition
• Authors: a maximum of two authors per entry
• Anonymity: the manuscript must not carry any author-identifying information

Submissions must be original. The organiser applies a similarity threshold of 10 percent, and any submission found to exceed it may be disqualified. AI-generated content is not accepted and will be rejected, so the work you submit must be your own.

Registration opened on 15 June 2026 and closes on 20 July 2026. The final submission deadline is 26 July 2026. Results are announced on 10 August 2026. After evaluation, the best review and the runner-up receive cash prizes, and the top three entries are considered for publication in the LHSS Journal, Volume 1, Issue 2, at the editors discretion.

First register through the official registration Google Form. Once you have prepared your anonymised manuscript, upload it through the separate official submission Google Form. Submissions are accepted only through the submission form. Entries sent by email are not accepted. Both form links are listed under important links below.

• You reviewed a law enacted between 2024 and 2026
• Your piece is between 1,500 and 2,500 words
• The file is MS Word (.doc or .docx), titled with the legislation name
• You used Bluebook 21st edition citations
• There are no more than two authors
• The manuscript carries no author-identifying information
• Similarity is within the 10 percent limit and there is no AI-generated content
• You completed the registration form before 20 July 2026
• You uploaded the manuscript through the submission form before 26 July 2026
• You paid the applicable registration fee