Saint Joseph University Dubai was honored to collaborate with Habib Al Mulla and Partners and LexisNexis Middle East in the Legal Research Writing Competition, an initiative aimed at fostering academic excellence and critical legal thinking among fourth-year law students and post graduate candidates. Two faculty members from Saint Joseph University, Dr. Rita Waked, Vice-Dean of the School of Law and Dr. Nisrine Abiad, Director of Research, were invited to serve on the jury, contributing their academic expertise and legal insight to the evaluation process.

Participants tackled complex and timely legal topics that reflect the evolving nature of law in the face of technological and societal shifts. These included digital currencies and to what extent the countries are prepared to embrace this development; genetic modification along with its accompanying ethical, religious, and legal considerations; personal data protection and how the UAE legislator has managed to safeguard such data in this digital age; autonomous vehicles and the legal dilemma arising from the inability to apply the general elements of traditional crimes to offenses committed using self-driving vehicles, due to the replacement of the human driver with an automated driving system.

The competition concluded with an awards ceremony that highlighted the achievements of the top three participants. Saint Joseph University Dubai is especially proud of its own Bachelor of Law graduate and current LLM student, Alia Al Marzooqi, who was awarded first prize for her outstanding submission. Her success is a testament to the University’s commitment to academic excellence and to nurturing the next generation of legal professionals in the UAE and in the region.