About the Program

2:00pm – 4:00pm

Pre-2011 CIIRL Research Workshop Meeting

Location: 956 York Research Tower

1. Welcome and Round of Introductions for all the Meeting Participants
2. Review of the final 2011 Critical Issues in International Refugee Law Research Workshop Programme.
   • Last Minute Updates and Adjustments
   • Review of the "Critical Issues"
3. The Refugee Research Network (RRN) – Mobilizing Refugee Research for Positive Change – Professor Susan McGrath, Director, Centre for Refugee Studies (CRS), York University
4. A Consideration of a Number of Possibilities for Wider Collaborate International Research Projects that could come out of our 2011 international Research Workshop:
   • James C. Simeon – Current and Ongoing International Collaborative Research Efforts and CIIRL
   • Satvinder Juss – International Human Rights Norms Impact on International Refugee Law; Dublin Convention & Safe Third Country Agreement (Canada and USA); Terrorism and its Affects on International Refugee Law
5. Possible Research Project Funding Opportunities
   • Kay Li, Research Officer, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies
6. Suggestions for Moving Forward on the Research Proposals during our international Research Workshop
• Meeting at the end of the international Research Workshop
7. Other Business

Pre-2011 CIIRL Research Workshop Meeting Participants List

8:30am – 9:00am

Light Breakfast *

9:00am – 9:30am

Greetings and Welcome

• York University President, Professor Mamdouh Shoukri
• Professor Narda Razack, Associate Dean (Academic), Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies, York University
• Professor Susan McGrath, Director, Centre for Refugee Studies, York University

Remarks of the Chairperson of the Research Workshop, the Honourable Allan Lutfy, Chief Justice, Federal Court (Canada), Ottawa, Canada

9:30am – 10:30am

Official Opening Keynote Address

Keynote Speaker: Professor James C. Hathaway, James E. and Sarah A. Degan Professor of Law, Director, Program in Refugee and Asylum Law, School of Law, University of Michigan, United States

Questions and Answer Session

10:30am – 10:45am

10:45am – 11:30am

“The 60th Anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 50th Anniversary of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, Retrospective Analysis and Prospective Vision: The Future of International Protection for the Stateless and those who Fear Persecution.”

Dr. Agnes Hurwitz, Senior Research Officer, Division of International Development, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland

Judicial Commentary 

• Justice Harold Dörig, Supreme Administrative Court, Federal Republic of Germany, Honorary Professor of the Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, Leipzig, Germany
• Justice Robert Barnes, Federal Court (Canada), Ottawa, Canada

11:30am – 12:00pm

12:00pm – 12:15pm

Academic Commentator’s Observations and Summary Remarks

Professor Maryellen Fullerton, Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn, New York, United States

12:15pm – 1:15pm

1:30pm – 2:30pm

The Interface Between “Soft Law” and “Hard Law” in International Refugee Law and Practice

Professor Satvinder Juss, School of Law, King’s College London, Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), United Kingdom, Panel of Arbitrators of the Indian Council of Arbitration and Life Member.

Judicial and UNHCR Commentary

• Justice Tony North, Federal Court of Australia, Melbourne, Australia, and Immediate-Past President of the International Association of Refugee Law Judges (IARLJ), Haarlem, The Netherlands
• UNHCR - Rana Khan, Legal Counsel, UNHCR Canada

2:30pm – 2:45pm

2:45pm – 4:00pm

4:00pm – 4:15pm

Academic Commentator’s Observations and Summary Remarks

Professor Audrey Macklin, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

4:15pm – 4:30pm

Overall Observations and Commentary on the Day’s Presentations and Discussions

• Professor James C. Hathaway, School of Law, University of Michigan, USA
• Chairperson’s Remarks. Chief Justice, Allan Lutfy, Federal Court (Canada), Ottawa, Canada

6:00pm – 7:00pm

Reception (Cash Bar)

7:00pm – 9:00pm

Dinner, Executive Dining Room, Schulich School of Business

8:30am – 9:00am

9:00am – 9:15am

Opening Remarks

• Professor David Dewitt, Associate Vice-President Research and Innovation, York University
• Chairperson’s Opening Remarks, Chief Justice Allan Lutfy, Federal Court (Canada) , Ottawa, Canada

9:15am – 10:45am

The Intersection of International Refugee Law, International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law

• Professor Hélène Lambert, School of Law, Department of Advanced Legal Studies, University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom
• Dr. Agnes Hurwitz, Senior Research Officer, Division of International Development, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland

Judicial and UNHCR Commentaries

• Dr. Hugo Storey, Senior Immigration Judge, Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber), London, United Kingdom
• Brian Goodman, Chairperson, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB), Ottawa, Canada

10:45am – 11:00am

11:00am – 12:00pm

12:00pm – 12:15pm

Academic Commentator’s Observations and Summary Remarks 

Joseph Rikhof, Senior Legal Counsel, Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Unit, Justice Canada, Ottawa, Canada

12:15pm – 1:30pm

Lunch *

1:30pm – 2:30pm

Security Issues and Special Procedures

Professor Sharryn Aiken, Associate Dean (Graduate Studies and Research) and Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada

Judicial and UNHCR Commentary

• Justice Esme Chombo, High Court of Malawi, Lilongwe, Malawi
• Judge President Bernard Ngoepe, Transvaal Division Court, High Court of the Republic of South Africa and Justice of the African Court of Human and People's Rights, Arusha, Tanzania
• UNHCR – Dr. Agnes Hurwitz, Senior Research Officer, Division of International Development, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland

2:30pm – 2:45pm

2:45pm – 4:00pm

4:00pm – 4:15pm

Academic Commentator’s Observations and Summary Remarks

Professor Obiora Okafor, Faculty of Law, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Toronto, Canada

4:15pm – 4:30pm

Overall Observations and Commentary on the Day’s Presentations and Discussions

• Professor James C. Hathaway, School of Law, University of Michigan, USA
• Chairperson’s Closing Remarks for the Research Workshop, Chief Justice Allan Lutfy, Federal Court (Canada), Ottawa, Canada