IAFL European Chapter Young Lawyers' Award 2026
Posted: 29 Jan 2026
What is the subject of the 2026 Young Lawyers award?
This year entrants are invited to submit a paper relating to a case study regarding parental responsibility, maintenance and matrimonial assets. Full details of the case study are below. Entries should ideally be written in English. However, translations can be obtained if any applicant prefers to write in their own language. Entries should not exceed 3,000 words (excluding references).
Who can submit an entry?
Entrants should be qualified practicing family lawyers of up to ten years qualification and/or experience who are residing in a European Chapter jurisdiction. Applications from trainee lawyers, pupil barristers or the equivalent are welcomed. Entries should relate directly to the case study below, and should not have been published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere.
What is the timeline?
The closing date for entries is Friday 8 May 2026 and submissions should be sent electronically to Ele Dexter, IAFL European Chapter Manager, ele.dexter@iafl.com. A panel of European Chapter Fellows will judge the entries based on the legal analysis of the questions asked with regards to the case study. The winners will be announced on Friday 26 June.
What are the prizes?
First Prize is €1,000. Two runners up prizes of €500.
The winner and runners up will also receive a subsidy of up to €500 towards travel and accommodation plus complimentary registrations at the IAFL Introduction to European Family Law Conference to be held in Tirana, Albania on 15 & 16 October 2026.
Case Study
Josh, 40, an Australian national, is a barrister in London (For the Scottish, Advocate in Edinburgh, For the Northern Irish, Barrister in Belfast)
He married Maria, 38, an Argentine national, on 20 September 2015 in Buenos Aires.
The couple have two children, Marcello (10) and Nina (8).
After their marriage, Josh and Maria lived in London (Edinburgh for the Scottish, Belfast for the Northern Irish). In 2019, they purchased a second home in your state (The UK participants shall read Portugal).
During the Covid pandemic, they came to live in their second home. They found life there more pleasant and less chaotic than in London (Edinburgh or Belfast). So, starting in 2021, they decided to settle there permanently. The children were enrolled in the local school. Maria found a job there. Josh travels back and forth to London (or Edinburgh or Belfast) when necessary, but he is able to participate in many hearings via videoconference. Josh retained a rented flat in London (or Edinburgh, or Belfast) continued to pay income tax there, and spends approximately 40% of his working time in England (or Scotland or Northern Ireland).
The relationship between the spouses deteriorated, and Josh, during one of his trips to London, decided to file for divorce in the English (or Scottish or Northern Irish) courts. On the same day, Maria, who had consulted a solicitor in your country (Portugal if you are from the UK), also filed for divorce there.
The spouses retain their respective Australian and Argentine nationalities.
Marcello has recently expressed a strong wish to return to live in England (or in Scotland or in Northern Ireland), where he feels closer to his father, while Nina has not expressed a similar view.
How would the jurisdiction of the courts in your country (UK participant should read their UK country) determine the issue of private international law in a case such as this?
- With regard to the divorce
- With regard to the children (parental responsibility/custody/access and child support).
- With regard to financial matters (maintenance and partition of the matrimonial assets) in the context of the divorce
Good luck and remember entries should not exceed 3,000 words (excluding references).
