Sir Nigel Rodley Human Rights Conference
October 28–29, 2017
A conference in honor of the late Sir Nigel Rodley is being hosted by The Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights at the University of Cincinnati College of Law on October 28–29, 2017.  Co-sponsored by Paul Hoffman and Professor Bert Lockwood, director of the Urban Morgan Institute, the Conference will focus on the contributions of Sir Nigel to human rights and his areas of concern, as well as the challenges currently facing the international human rights community.  Registration and hotel information are here.  If you have any questions please email Nancy Ent at nancy.ent@uc.edu.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2017

9 am        Greeting from Prof. Bert Lockwood
Video Tribute to Sir Nigel Rodley

9:30–10:30 am      Nigel Rodley and Amnesty International
Chair: Paul Hoffman 
Panelists:
Chris Avery, Founder, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
Prof. Stephanie Farrior, Vermont Law School
Prof. David Petrasek, University of Ottawa

10:30–11:30 am       Nigel’s Scholarship
Chair: Prof. David Weissbrodt, University of Minnesota
Panelists:
Prof. Roger Clark, Rutgers Law School: Nigel’s Criminal Law Scholarship
Prof. Rebecca Cook, University of Toronto Faculty of Law: Nigel’s Feminist Transformations

11:30–12:30 am      Death Penalty
Chair: Prof. George Edwards, Indiana University
Panelists:
Christina Cerna, Former Attorney, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights: Death Penalty Case
Prof. Sandra Babcock, Cornell Law School: Death Penalty Today
Prof. Connie de la Vega, University of San Francisco

Lunch Break    Boxed Lunches will be provided

1:30–2:30 pm     Torture
Chair: Prof. Terry Coonan, Florida State University
Panelists:
Prof. Juan Méndez, American University; Former UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
Felice Gaer, Vice-Chair, UN Committee against Torture
Curt Goering, Center for Victims of Torture

2:30–3:15 pm      The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
Chair: Howard Tolley, University of Cincinnati
Panelists:
The Honorable Unity Dow, Minister of Education, Botswana; Former Chair of the Executive Committee, ICJ
Prof. Robert Goldman, American University; Acting President, ICJ

3:15–4:30 pm      Treaty Bodies
Chair: Prof. Dinah Shelton, George Washington University
Panelists:
Prof. Cees Flinterman, Maastricht University
Prof. Ruth Wedgwood, Johns Hopkins University
Prof. Douglass Cassel, University of Notre Dame

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2017

9–10:15 am      Economic and Social Rights
Chair: Prof. Stephen Marks, Harvard University
Panelists:
Prof. Paul Hunt, University of Essex; Independent Expert, UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
Prof. Tara Melish, University of Buffalo
Larry Cox, Kairos Center, Poor Peoples’ Campaign

10:15–11:15 am      Current Challenges, Part I
Chair: Prof. Mark Gibney, University of North Carolina at Asheville
Panelists:
Prof. Michael  O’Flaherty: View from the European Union’s Fundamental Rights Agency
Christophe Peschoux: View from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Prof. Tom Farer, University of Denver: Minority Rights in the Age of Mass Migration

11:15–11:30 am      Break

11:30 am –12:30 pm    Current Challenges, Part II
Chair: Dr. Bernard Dickens, University of Toronto
Panelists:
Prof. William Schabas, Middlesex University
Prof. John Packer, University of Ottawa
Sandra Coliver, Open Society Foundation

12:30 pm    Concluding Remarks
Paul Hoffman and Bert Lockwood