Fall (September - December) 2001 Online Diary
This diary list events and upcoming events in which I have a personal interest.
June 13, 2003: Convocation will take place at 2:30 p.m. for Osgoode Hall Law School at Convocation Pavilion, east of the Centre for Film and Theatre, York University. All of my friends, family and fans are invited. This posting constitutes the notice and the invitation
May 01, 2003: End of Year Party - Tonic Nightclub, 117 Peter corner Richmond, Toronto, Ontario.
April 25, 2003: End of Year Party - Pearl Lounge, 240 Richmond St W, Toronto, Ontario.
April 22, 2003, application for leave to appeal filed in the law schools case.
April 21, 2003, handed in my very last assignment at law school
April 16, 2003, story in the Toronto Star re challenge to U of T Admissions Policy "Law school race case won't be reviewed" Pg. B07.
April 16, 2003, OCCOPS rendered decision Ontario Civilian Commission on Police Services decision in Pieters v. Denton et. al April 16, 2003
April 14, 2003, Divisional Court Decision handed down in judicial review application of the OHRC's decision in the law schools case. See, Pieters v. University of Toronto et al.
April 03, 2003, Toast to the Grads and The Dean's Annual Luncheon.
April 02, 2003, Gordon Gressy Student Leadership Awards 10th Anniversary Reunion.
March 26, 2003, Did an oral presentation on my trip to the U.K.
March 24, 2003, Published article in the Obiter Dicta entitled "Unfinished Business".
March 23, 2003, Returned to Canada on British Airways flight 093 from Heathrow.
March 21, 2003, International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination .
March 21, 2003, Visited the Refugee Legal Centre. Spent the day observing the advise and appeals unit at work. Our host Sheila Grewal was very nice. Lunched with Omar S. at a Pakistani Restaurant.
March 20, 2003, Visited the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. Met with the Executive Director and several policy and legal officers.
March 19, 2003, Visited the Croydon Magistrates' Court in Surrey. Met with several of the Panel members informally. Observed a few hearings heard by Adjudicator Ms. Jane Coker.
March 19, 2003, Training program at the Immigration Law Practitioners' Association on the Asylum Support Adjudicators . Training was conducted by Sehba Storey, Chief Asylum Support Adjudicator.
March 19, 2003, The big pre-occupation in the U.K. is the war and the Clare Short fiasco - she has no credibility having threatened to resign and not following through with it on a point of principle.
March 18, 2003, Visited the Royal Court of Justice. A big immigration decision came down from the Court of Appeal in "The Queen on the application of "Q" and others v. SSHD" - a lot of media present outside of the Court and lawyers. "The issues that it raises all relate, in one way or another, to the efficacy of section 55 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 ("the 2002 Act"), which came into force on 8 January of this year. Before that date, any asylum seeker who had no means of obtaining adequate accommodation or who could not meet his other essential living needs was likely to look to the Secretary of State for assistance. Under the legislative scheme, as it had developed, he and he alone had the power to provide such persons with assistance. Section 55 of the 2002 Act now provides that the Secretary of State ?may not provide or arrange for the provisions of support? to a person making a claim for asylum where he's not satisfied that the claim was made as soon as reasonably practicable after the person?s arrival in the United Kingdom".
Observed a Judicial Review Application presided over by Mr. Justice Maurice Kay. It appeared to be a big case because the Secretary of State for the Home Department (SSHD) sent seven lawyers to defend a tribunal decision. Raza Husain, barrister at Matrix Chambers, appeared for the appellant. He is an excellent barrister. I was very impressed with how Raza tore the state's arguments apart. Raza also argued the "Q" case referred to above. We later went back to Raza's chambers on Gray's Inn Road and hung out for a bit. Then off for the traditional British "fish and chips."
March 17, 2003, Visited the Immigration Appellate Authority at Taylor House Appeal Centre. Met with Home Office Staff, observed a couple hearings presided over by adjudicator Mark Dennis. At the lunchbreak invited out to lunch with the Adjudicator.
March 17, 2003, Dinner with Omar S. and his fiance. Went to the Palace Theatre to see Les Miserable. It was a grand production like only the British can. Hung out at a popular internet cafe writing my fairwell rant for the law school newspaper.
March 16, 2003, Visited Charles Dicken's House - up the Street from where I am staying.
March 15, 2003, Visited Brixton. I felt as though I had returned home. Party until very late.
March 14 2003, Was scheduled to vist Oxford University - but I missed the trip which was disappointing. Attended the Human Rights Watch film festival. Went to see Barbershop. Watched Cricket India vs. New Zeeland.
March 13 2003, Meeting of the ARC Group at Friends House.
March 13 2003, This evening I attended a reception hosted by the British Council to celebrate the achievements of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants. This was a great networking opportunity. It was addressed by a the keynote speaker was a "Lord."
March 13 2003, Visited Canada House and Trafalgar Square.
March 12 2003, Lunched with Henry Markenson. Dinner with Omar S.
March 11 2003, General Staff Meeting at ECRE.
March 10 2003, Began Externship at the European Commission on Refugees and Exiles (ECRC), London. U.K. - In meetings all day with U.K. and EU representatives from the Policy and Advocacy Group. So far its great, except I am still recovering from jetlag (after travelling for almost 24 hours- when the 9 hours stopover in New Jersey is factored in).
March 10 2003, the fight involving a BLSA mmember who was allegedly attacked by four person at Osgoode made the news briefs of the Obita Dicta. Its difficult to know what really occur because the impression the Pub Manager, Larry E. gives is that the fight was racilly motivated and involved a lot of racial slurs; the Black Student on the other hand felt that all he was doing was defending himself after stepping in to break up a fight and being assaulted by one of the combatants. In any event Pub night is becoming quite interesting.
March 09, 2003, In London. Staying at London House, in the Pickwick Suite.
March 09, 2003, Travelled from New Jersey to London - on the flight there was an emergency so we got priority landing as we arrived in the U.K. I was impressed at how professional the Captain and the Crew handled the situation - there was a lot of teenagers on the flight and I suspect it would have been bad had they panicked.
March 08, 2003, Travelled to New Jersey, U.S.A. with Omar S. Interesting because of the hightened security. One now has to take off their shoes and belt as they as they pass through security. Went to Manhattan, New York City - took in a movie Chicago while I was there.
March 07 - 09, 2003: The Third Annual SPINLAW Conference. I was an invited speaker but unfortunately was unable to attend. However, I did submit a paper. See, Expanding the Boundaries of Human Rights Litigation ? Post 9/11, Racial-Profiling and the impact of the Pieters Settlement, By Selwyn A. Pieters
March 07, 2003, Finalized accommodations in London. Will be staying at London House.
March 05, 2003, Roy Cullen visits the law school.
March 03, 2003, Intensive Program in Immigration and Refugee Law had a draw for two students to go to London, U.K. myself and Omar Siddiqui won the draw.
March 1, 2003, attended Law Union Ontario conference at U of T. The highlight of my attendance was lunch with Adrian, Victoria, Irina, Shiraz, John (I can't beliee I was the only non-lawyer at the table), meeting up with Vilko Z., Nigel M., Peter R., Barbara J. and attending the later panel on Privacy - which was very interesting.
February 26, 2003, excerpted from York University Press Release "Selwyn Pieters, an Osgoode Hall Law School student at York University who recently won a racial profiling case, discusses racial profiling, on "Crispo" (I-CHAN), national, Feb. 20." This was the program pre-recorded on February 05, 2003.
February 24 - 28, 2003: Reading week.
February 21 - 23, 2003: the ninth annual Rebellious Lawyering Conference will be held at Yale Law School in New Haven, CT.
February 21, 2003: Presentation on assessment of credibility in the context of TRefugee Protection Division hearings to the Intensive Program in Immigration and Refugee Law At Osgoode.
February 20, 2003: The Black Law Students Association and South Asian Law Students Association "Shake What Yo' Mama Gave Ya!!!" pub has been rescheduled to Thursday, February 20th. Details to follow!
February 10-14, 2003, Free University Week at University of Toronto.
February 6, 2003, Mock Trial at Osgoode "UNLEARNED DISSENT". Hanged out at Oz until after 1:00 a.m. I had a great time.
February 5, 2003, appeared on the Crispo Show on iChannel with Professor Kent Raoch to talk about racial profiling.
January 29, 2003, Supreme Court Justice Michel Bastarache presentation at Osgoode Hall Law School in the Moot Court Room. His topic was: "Judicial Review of Ministerial Decisions in light of Baker v. Canada". The focus of the lecture was primarily on the recent Supreme Court of Canada decisions in Baker v. Canada, Pushpanathan v. Canada, and Suresh v. Canada. Bastarache J. suggests that there is a middle road in terms of deference to the executive branch of government.
January 27 - February 07, 2003: Immigration and Refugee Law Intensive at the Immigration and Refugee Board, Legal Services Branch
January 14, 2003, Racism, Violence and Health conference.
January 14, 2003, Bill Graham, Canada?s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, presented the Goodman lecture at U of T Law School.
January 08, 2003, Guest appearance at the University of Toronto Law School for the Legal Ethics and Progessional Responsibility Bridge. See, Selwyn A. Pieters, "Litigation Race-Based Cases - A View from a Client" Presented at the Legal Ethics and Professionalism Bridge, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto - January 08, 2003
January 06, 2003, first day of classes. Bought textbooks, and attended introductory classes for the Intensive Program in Immigration and Refugee Law.
Picture courtesy of Law Times
This page was updated on May 20, 2003.
November 27, 2000
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