 |
||
|
|
Events |
|
 |
"Creating
partnerships for global peace, security and development"
“Know Your Legal Rights" Conference The Canadian Somali
Congress recently organized a legal conference for the community
in Toronto titled “Know your legal rights.” The conference
was held at the Bollywood Masala Restaurant in Etobicoke North.
The Canadian Somali Congress organized this conference because there
was a need in the Canadian Somali community to be given a good introduction
to legal issues, various aspects of the Canadian criminal justice
system, human rights and obligations under Canadian law. The Canadian
Somali community is one of the poorest ethno-cultural groups in
Canada and it is facing a rising crime rate. A substantial number
of youth are dealing with various aspects of the Canadian criminal
justice system including being incarcerated, serving a sentence
in the community or dealing with courts on a regular basis.
The forum was set up in a manner that allowed the invited
panelists to speak effectively to a medium-sized audience on their
area of interest in the law. In addition to this, the audience was
given a lot of time and opportunity to ask theoretical questions
on the law as well as seeking clarification from the assembled legal
experts regarding specific personal interactions that they may have
had with the Canadian legal system. The “Know your legal rights”
conference was moderated by Canadian Somali Congress National President
Ahmed Hussen and Mark Persaud, former Federal Prosecutor, Department
of Justice and Honourary Patron of the Canadian Somali Congress.
Mr. Persaud is also the CEO of the Canadian International Peace
project which sponsored the event.
The first panelist to speak was the Honourable Mr. Justice Todd Archibald, Justice in the Superior Court of Ontario. The Honourable Mr. Justice Todd Archibald, B.A. (Hons), LL.B., LL.M. was appointed to the Superior Court of Justice in Ontario in 1999. He is a member of the adjunct faculty at Osgoode Hall Law School where he teaches Advanced Evidence and Advanced Trial Advocacy. Before his appointment, he was a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP where he practised civil and criminal litigation. He has written numerous articles on civil, criminal and environmental law matters. He covered the topics of: 1. Overview of judicial system and courts 2. General dealings with Police officers 3. Traffic Stops The Second panelist to speak was Richard Litkowski who is a defence lawyer. He obtained his LLB (Osgoode 1989), was called to the bar in 1991 after serving his articles as a clerk to Chief Justice Antonio Lamer in 1989-1990. He presently practices criminal law in a chambers setting at both the trial and appellate levels. He has previously been associated in the practice of criminal law with Ruby & Edwardh and Gold & Fuerst. He has also contributed to various publications and continuing legal education panels, is a co-author of the sixth edition of Sentencing, was an instructor at the Bar Admission Course in Criminal Procedure and Advocacy from 1993-2005, has been a review Counsel and Lecturer at the Downtown Legal Services, (the student run legal aid clinic at the University of Toronto Law School) from 1996-2006, taught Evidence at Osgoode Hall Law School with Justice Todd Ducharme in the fall of 2006, and appears regularly before the Court of Appeal for Ontario as a Duty Counsel for Inmate Appeals in Toronto and Kingston. Richard talked about the issue of traffic stops. He also covered the topics of: 4. Entrance into Dwellings For further information contact: Ahmed Hussen National President Canadian Somali Congress Tel: 613-523-2656 613-608-5542 (cell) Email: ahmed@canadiansomalicongress.com Website: www.canadiansomalicongress.com
|
