Final Programme - International Bar Association

Speakers
Susan Fay Irish Traveller Movement, Dublin, Ireland
David Joyce The Law Library, Dublin, Ireland
Victor Rodriguez-Rescia International expert and consultant on
human rights, San José, Costa Rica
Garth Wallbridge Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada
Coffee and tea breaks will be held between 1100 – 1130 and
1600 – 1630. To accommodate the flow of delegates through
the Conference Centre please note the closest coffee/tea
station to this session is in the Liffey Meeting Room Corridor,
Level 1. Tea and coffee will also be served, during these times,
in The Forum on Ground Level.
Tuesday 1130 – 1230
LIFFEY MEETING ROOM 4, LEVEL 1
News from around the world
Presented by the International Franchising Committee.
This session is the traditional round-up of the latest development in
franchising and related matters from jurisdictions around the world.
The focus will be on franchising in Ireland and Africa plus country
updates from audience members.
Moderator
John Baer Greensfelder Hemker & Gale, Chicago, Illinois, USA;
Chair, International Franchising Committee
Speakers
Imelda Reynolds Beauchamps Solicitors, Dublin, Ireland
Kendal Tyre Nixon Peabody, Washington DC, USA
Coffee and tea breaks will be held between 1100 – 1130 and
1600 – 1630. To accommodate the flow of delegates through
the Conference Centre please note the closest coffee/tea
stations to this session are in the foyer on Levels 2 and 3.
Tuesday 1230 – 1430
ECOCEM ROOM, LEVEL 2
Open committee business meeting and lunch
Presented by the IBA Global Employment Institute.
An open meeting of the IBA Global Employment Institute will be held
to discuss matters of interest and future activities.
Tuesday 1300 – 1400
FOYER, LEVEL 5
An interview with Juan E Méndez, uN
Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment
or Punishment
Moderator
Todd Benjamin Award-winning former CNN news anchor
Juan E Méndez, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel,
Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, has dedicated his legal
career to the defence of human rights and has a long and distinguished
record of advocacy throughout the Americas. He is a Visiting Professor
of Law at the American University – Washington College of Law, and
an adviser on crime prevention to the Prosecutor, International Criminal
Court. Until May 2009 he was the President of the International
Center for Transition Justice (ICTJ) and in the summer of 2009 he was a
Scholar-in-Residence at the Ford Foundation in New York. Concurrent
with his duties at ICTJ, the Honourable Kofi Annan named Mr Méndez
his Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, a task he performed
from 2004 to 2007. For 15 years, he worked with Human Rights
Watch, concentrating his efforts on human rights issues in the western
hemisphere. In 1994, he became general counsel of Human Rights
Watch, with worldwide duties in support of the organisation’s mission,
including responsibility for litigation and standard setting activities.
A national of Argentina, Mr Méndez was himself a victim of torture
and administrative detention during the Argentinian ‘dirty war’. As
a result of his involvement in representing political prisoners, he was
detained by the Argentinian military dictatorship for over a year,
during which time he was adopted as a ‘Prisoner of Conscience’ by
Amnesty International. In a conversation regarding this treatment, Mr
Méndez recently told the IBA that ‘it doesn’t go away and, at some
point, you don’t want it to go away because you want it to be a
source of commitment to working on human rights’.
This has been true for Mr Méndez, who continues to fight against
violations of human rights, calling for a victim-centred perspective
in efforts to combat torture and greater progress in institutionalising
basic principles and guidelines to provide minimum standards for
victims. He is a leading voice in the international community against
the use of wrongfully obtained evidence by states, insisting that
evidence compromised by the use of torture should not be deemed an
acceptable tool to gain information and that each state has a duty to
cooperate in the eradication of such practices. These arguments are
particularly relevant to allegations of involvement in torture during the
‘war on terror’ and Mr Méndez has called for an open inquiry in the
UK, recently saying that ‘I’ve seen from my work around the world that
the way to deal with the cancer of torture is to fully root it out with a
wide-ranging, independent and fully public inquiry’.
Tuesday 1430 – 1600
Open committee business meeting
Presented by the Latin American Regional Forum.
AuDITORIuM, LEVEL 3
An open meeting of the Latin American Regional Forum will be held
to discuss matters of interest and future activities.
Tuesday 1430 – 1730
WICKLOW MEETING ROOM 4, LEVEL 2
The rights of the disabled in private
employment and the legal profession:
new international challenges for employers
and employees
Presented by the Discrimination Law Committee and the Disability
Rights Working Group
Companies and employers who fail to provide opportunities to
disabled workers are not only opening themselves to legal challenges
– they are also depriving themselves of the talents of a large segment
of the population. However, employment laws aimed at preventing
discrimination against, and providing accommodations in favor of,
disabled workers, have proceeded in various jurisdictions on tracks
that are not altogether parallel. While all may have made progress in
increasing the focus of the challenges facing disabled workers, to a
greater or lesser extent, they vary widely in their effectiveness.
The legal profession is not immune to the challenges faced by disabled
workers. Lawyers with disabilities often struggle to find work and
acceptance. Law firms, with their traditional models of staffing,
and often concerned by outmoded notions of acceptability and the
Working sessions – Tuesday
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