Osgoode Conference Looks at Corruption and What to Do about It

Publication Date

3-11-2014

Document Type

News Article

Abstract

Osgoode Conference Looks at Corruption and What to Do about It

TORONTO, November 3, 2014 – York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School will host a major conference on November 6 and 7, 2014 that will look at corruption in business, finance, government and enforcement.

“Understanding and Taming Public and Private Corruption in the 21st Century” will bring together top Canadian and international legal, political and media experts to explore what makes these sectors vulnerable to corruption, the systems that undermine anti-corruption intentions, and the failures of transparency and accountability efforts.

“Corruption is not only a major problem for developing countries, it is also a critical issue for Canada in 2014,” said Professor François Tanguay-Renaud, Director of Osgoode’s Jack & Mae Nathanson Centre on Transnational Human Rights, Crime and Security, which is hosting the conference in partnership with the Osgoode Hall Law Journal.

“In the past few years, there have been many disturbing high-profile cases of corruption that have garnered considerable media attention, generated public inquiries, and led to unprecedented court cases,” Tanguay-Renaud said. “These events have demonstrated that no level of government, agency or corporation is immune from corruption schemes. This conference will reflect critically on some of those experiences and responses to them.”

The conference is co-chaired by Ron Atkey, Adjunct Professor of National Security at Osgoode; Margaret Beare, Professor of Law and Sociology at Osgoode and York; and Cynthia Williams, Professor of Law and Osler Chair in Business Law at Osgoode. Key themes that will be explored at the conference include: •

Corruption in undermining international economic development; •

Corruption as a facilitator of organized crime; •

Corrupt interactions between business and government; •

Corruption within government institutions; •

The UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC); •

The Foreign Corrupt Practices Acts and their extra-terrestrial reach; •

The adequacy of whistle-blowing legislation, policies and practices.

Keynote speaker will be John Sandage, Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s Division for Treaty Affairs. In addition, leading thinkers on corruption will participate in panel discussions that will analyze recent domestic and transnational events in Canada and abroad from a wide variety of cutting-edge legal, sociological, and political perspectives, and propose constructive ways forward. Among the speakers, Julian Sher, Senior Producer at CBC’s the fifth estate, and John Ibbitson and Adam Radwanski, both of the Globe and Mail, will present on the media’s role in exposing corruption, and responsibilities of the media generally to accurately report levels and types of corruption.

WHAT: “Understanding and Taming Public and Private Corruption in the 21st Century” AGENDA

WHEN: Thurs. Nov. 6, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. & Fri. Nov. 7, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

WHERE: Moot Court (Room 1005), Osgoode Hall Law School of York University MAP

REGISTRATION: HERE

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Media Contact:

Virginia Corner, Communications Manager, Osgoode Hall Law School of York University, 416-736-5820, vcorner@osgoode.yorku.ca

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