TORONTO, January 20, 2010 -- The Nathanson Centre at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School will host a Special Forum on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan on Monday, February 8, 2010.
Experts on various aspects of the Afghan detainee transfer issue will “testify” before the Special Forum, which is intended to substitute for testimony that the House of Commons Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan would have been able to hear, should it have desired, were it not for the prorogation of Parliament.
“This special forum is intended to facilitate reflection by Canadians on the morality and legality of conduct related to the Afghan detainees,” said Osgoode Professor Craig Scott, Director of the Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security.
The special forum is open to all. The proceedings will be videotaped and then web-archived for full public access after the event. Written or transcribed contributions by presenters, along with background documents, will be published after the Special Forum, and made available online as well as in print form.
WHAT: Special Forum on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan. Session theme: “Moral and Legal Responsibility with Respect to Alleged Mistreatment of Transferred Detainees in Afghanistan.” Experts will make presentations on various issues related to the detainee-transfer issue. A period of questioning will ensue either after each presenter has spoken or after several have spoken on related matters.
To date, nine presenters have accepted to testify before the Special Forum:
Michael Byers, Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia Faculty of Law
Paul Champ, Barrister, Champ & Associates, Ottawa
Willem de Lint, Head of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology, University of Windsor
Michael Mandel, Professor of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School
Frédéric Mégret, Canada Research Chair in the Law of Human Rights and Legal Pluralism at McGill University Faculty of Law
Alex Neve, Secretary General of Amnesty International (Canada), English branch
Kent Roach, Professor of Law, University of Toronto
William Schabas, Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at National University of Ireland, Galway
Christopher Waters, Associate Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor
WHEN: Monday, February 8, 2010, 10 am to 4 pm
WHERE: Senate Chambers, 9th Floor, Ross Building North
York University (Keele Campus)
INFO: Professor Craig Scott
Director, Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
Virginia Corner
Communications Manager, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University
416-736-5820
Osgoode Hall Law School of York University has a proud history of more than 100 years of leadership and innovation in legal education and legal scholarship. A total of about 900 students are enrolled in Osgoode’s three-year Juris Doctor (JD) Program. Osgoode’s Graduate Program in Law, with its thesis-based Master of Laws (LLM) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programs, is also the largest in the country and one of the most highly regarded in North America. The Osgoode Professional Development Program, which operates out of its own centre in downtown Toronto and is unique in Canada, offers numerous specialized part-time LLM Programs that run on varying cycles as well as Continuing Legal Education (CLE) courses.
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