A team of Durham University law students has been awarded first place in the 11th Annual Rule of Law Innovation Challenge (ROLIC), an international competition organised by Lawyers Without Borders. Selected from approximately 30 global teams, they advanced as one of five finalists and were invited to present their project live at King’s College London, where they were ultimately crowned winners.
The competition challenges students to develop creative, actionable solutions to pressing rule of law issues. The Durham Team's project, The Silent Weave, was created in response to the theme Legal Education in Emergencies, focusing on the challenges faced by women in Afghanistan in pursuing their legal educations.
The Silent Weave is a disguised legal education book that embeds practical legal knowledge into the format of an embroidery guide, allowing Afghan women to access essential legal content without drawing attention. It follows the fictional story of Leila, a young law student, to teach Afghan women core skills such as legal reasoning, client interaction and written advocacy in a covert, culturally sensitive way. It also includes practical exercises for women to complete to practice applying and develop their legal skills.
Reflecting on their experience, the team said:
"Participating in ROLIC gave us the chance to apply legal research, collaboration and problem-solving in a real-world context, while also designing something that could create meaningful social impact. The process helped us reflect on how law can be a tool for empowerment, even in the most constrained environments, reaffirming why we chose to study law in the first place to promote equality and justice."