ENSLR Elections

The First Election

The first election will take place in March for the positions of President, Editor-in-Chief, Treasurer, and Secretary for the year 2021/22. Below is a brief outline of the roles and duties of each position on offer:

Position Role Description

President

 You will be responsible for the overall running and success of the Law Review. You will be responsible for governing and administrating the Law Review throughout the year, as well as making final decisions in everything that the Editorial Board does. You will manage the website and all its content, publish articles and blogs, convene meetings, manage the Editorial Board, meet and initiate potential sponsors, liaise with the Law Faculty, host debates and competitions, and set the calendar for the year. This is an exceptionally demanding role and requires a significant amount of personal time and commitment. This is a daily commitment. You have to have been on the Editorial Board for at least one year to apply.

Editor-in-Chief

 You will assist the President in the running of the Law Review, aiding them in decision-making, and acting as President when they cannot attend meetings or any other event. The main responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief is to edit and publish the Edinburgh Napier Student Law Review Journals, articles, and any other content. You will proofread all submissions for the website and Journals and ensure that they conform with OSCOLA referencing and the Student Code of Conduct. Additionally, you will discuss members’ ideas topics for submissions and assist in writing if necessary. This is also a very time-consuming role and you will be required to dedicate a significant amount of time to assist in the administration of the Law Review and content.

Treasurer

 You will take care of managing the finances of the Law Review. You will need to set up a bank account for the Law Review and ensure that the finances of the Law Review are well managed throughout the year. You will provide a monthly financial report to the Board, and work in association with the President and Editor-in-Chief providing financial analysis and advice concerning budget allocation for events. You will also be responsible for all matters relating to membership, making sure that information is accurate at all times.

Secretary

 You will be responsible for assisting in Board meetings, taking minutes for the Law Review, liaising and responding to emails from members, booking venues (when possible), and dealing with other general Law Review administration. Attention to detail is crucial for this role and exceptional organisation skills.

The Election Process

  • The conduct of the Law Review’s elections to membership of the Board is the responsibility of the Honorary Elections and Appeals Officer for the current academic year.
  • All applicants for the roles of President, Editor-in-Chief, Treasurer, and Secretary must submit an application consisting of a maximum of 300 words (but can be as little as you wish) explaining why you want the role, what you can bring to the role, etc – to ednapier.lawreview@gmail.com.
  • The deadline for applications is the 3rd of June by 8pm. 
  • Applicants may apply to ONLY ONE of the above positions and all applicants are required to have previously held a position on the Editorial Board for a minimum period of one academic year.
  • Upon verification, the manifestos will then be uploaded to the website along with an optional photograph of the applicant for members to read and make their decision.
  • The election will then be held online on the 3rd of June starting at 9pm and will be open over a period of 24 hours. Only members of the Law Review shall be eligible to vote. Each member will have ONE vote per role. Applicants can vote for themself but if you vote twice or more, none of your votes will be counted.
  • The results will be released on the 6th of June.

List of Remaining roles

Below is a brief (and by no means exhaustive) outline of the roles, number of spaces, and duties of each position on offer by the President for 2021/22:*

Position Role Description

Social Media Manager (1)

 You will be responsible for managing all of the Law Review Social Media Pages. You will promote all new content, events, debates, competitions, careers, etc on our social media. You will maintain the external image of the Law Review and manage all social media inboxes. You will remain in constant close contact with all the social media feeds of law firms and sponsors, and promote on relevant social media feeds when necessary.

Content Editor

(Up to 5)

 Under the supervision and instruction of the Editor-in-Chief, you will contribute and edit content for the Law Review Journals. You will write articles on developments in the law, design editions of the Journal as a team, and send the final drafts to the President for publication on the website. You will proofread and edit submissions from students for publication in the Journal.

Debates Officer (2)

 You will be responsible for organising and running Law Review debates. Working with the President, you will come up with a proposition for debates and assisting students to prepare arguments where required. You may act as a judge in debates and you will ensure that they are run effectively whether online or on campus. You will work with the Events Officer to organise debating events. You can also participate as a debater in any debate!

LGBTQ Secretary (1)

 You will be responsible for liaising with LGBTQ Professionals and helping the Law Review celebrate their successes. You run an LGBTQ-specific section of the blog where you will contribute posts and articles about the achievements and stories of LGBTQ professionals in Law, politics, business, etc. You will create a platform to empower LGBTQ students and offer support/encouragement. You will work alongside and under the direction of the Diversity Officer (Tahlila Shikari) who will run the ‘Women in Law’ section of the blog. Diversity will always be a priority for the Law Review.

Ethnic Minorities Secretary (1)

 Working alongside and under the direction of the Diversity Officer, you will be responsible for liaising with Ethnic Minority Professionals and helping the Law Review celebrate their successes. You will run an Ethnic Minority-specific section of the blog on the website where you will contribute posts and articles about the achievements and stories of Ethnic Minority professionals in Law, politics, business, etc. You will create a platform to empower Ethnic Minority students and offer support/encouragement.

Events Officer (2)

 You will be responsible for organising, planning, and assisting to advertise all events hosted by the Law Review. You will work with the appropriate member of the Editorial Board to plan a specific event, for example, working with the Debate Officers to run a debate whether online or on campus. You will also be in charge with organising any social events on behalf of the Law Review and its members. You may wish to produce ideas for an event and then take an online poll from members of the Law Review as to which they would like to go ahead, or ask members of the Law Review for ideas to an event they would like to see take place in the future. You will also be responsible for organising any fundraisers. You will work in association with the Treasurer to ensure that all expenses are accounted.

Careers Officer (2)

 You will be responsible for all things career-related, including careers events, obtaining and distributing job/work experience advertisements and opportunities on our website and social media, and writing posts about the different career paths into the Profession from paralegals to Advocates, etc. The role is to help students understand how to enter the profession and what they need to do to get there. You will liaise with the careers staff at Napier to make sure that the latest events and opportunities are made known to students. Ideally, one of the Officers would be more interested in becoming a Solicitor and the other an Advocate to make sure the two biggest career options are covered, but that is not essential. You will work with the President and the Events Officer to organise speaker events and presentations from legal professionals.

Commercial Awareness Officer (1)

 You will be responsible for maintaining commercial awareness updates on the Law Review website. You will take recent developments in the law and briefly outline the main points about the development and how that will effect the area of law, law firms, certain individuals, etc. You will be in charge of making sure that each member of the Editorial Board gives one point of development from their favourite area of law for the website so that as many areas of law are covered. You will also post a commercial term of the week with a definition for students to learn and expand their knowledge of commercial terminology.

Book Exchange Officer (1)

 You will be responsible for ensuring that the Book Exchange runs effectively. This includes setting up and managing a social media page for the Law Review’s Book Exchange where books on offer will be advertised to students. You will help past and current students sell their books to students and you will take books to the Law Library which have been donated. You will assist sellers and buyers to ensure that deals between students are completed with the least amount of inconvenience. You will work with the President to ensure that no books are overpriced and all details disclosed are true to the best of your knowledge.

4th Year Representatives (2)

3rd Year Representatives (1)

2nd Year Representatives (2)

Non-Law Representatives (2)

 You will act as a representative for your cohort. You will promote and maintain awareness of the Law Review and its content to your cohort;  Encouraging students in your year group to engage with and write for the Law Review such as articles, notes on recent cases, blogs on developments in their area of interest; communicating any needs, comments, or issues felt by your cohort; and assist to advertise the Law Review Book Exchange, competitions, and giveaways to your cohort. Additionally, you will write and propose ideas for the Law Review, and attend and potentially participate in speaker events, debates, socials, etc.

*If you have an idea of a role that is not included above that you think would be a useful addition to the Editorial Board, please let the President (to be determined) know at ednapier.lawreview@gmail.com stating how you will utilise that role to better the Law Review. 

The Selection Process

  • The conduct of the Law Review’s elections to membership of the Board is the responsibility of the newly elected President (to be determined).
  • Applications for the remaining roles on the Board include a short write-up of no more than 250 words (but can be as little as you wish) explaining why you want to join the Law Review, what you can bring to the role, etc. If you are applying to be a Law Review Representative, this is optional.
  • The application form can be accessed here. The deadline to apply for a position is Friday 9 September at 9pm.
  • Applicants may apply for up to TWO positions on the Board; your first and second choice.
  • In the event that there are a greater number of applicants than the number of spaces for a role, an online election will be held to determine the successful candidate(s). Only members of the Law Review shall be eligible to vote. Each member will have ONE vote per role. An applicant can vote for themself but if you vote twice or more, none of your votes will be counted.
  • The results will be released at the close of the online election.
  • If there are two applicants with a similar vote count for the same position, the President may decide that an interview is necessary to help judge the best candidate.
  • In the event that there are no applications for a particular role on the Board, the President and Editor-in-Chief can propose a member of the Law Review as a candidate they wish to fulfill the role.

 

Electoral Offences

The list of electoral offences shall include, but is not limited to, the following.

It shall be an electoral offence to:

  • publish election material other than that approved by the Honorary Elections and Appeals Officer, President and Editor-in-Chief on the website;
  • conduct any type of intimidation or make defamatory implications about other candidates;
  • attempt to bribe any of the members;
  • use the membership database during the election to a personal electoral advantage;
  • spend monies on campaigning.

The Honorary Elections and Appeals Officer shall oversee the running of the Law Review’s elections, ensuring that there are no electoral offences committed by applicants. If an offence is identified by the Officer, they shall remove the applicant from the election immediately.

In the event that an offence is identified by the President or Editor-in-Chief of the current academic year, the offence shall be brought to the attention of the Honorary Elections and Appeals Officer. The Officer shall then decide whether the offence warrants removal of the applicant from the election.