Law Times

PAGE 4 NEWS November 14, 2011 • Law Times Arab security worries hinder IBA Organization tones down sessions over cancellation threat BY JULIUS MELNITZER For Law Times I nternational Bar Association organizers compromised with the United Arab Emir- ates after the country's security branch threatened to cancel the IBA's annual conference in Dubai earlier this month be- cause "its content might precipi- tate instability in the region." An internal memo sent to IBA members during the con- ference after news of the threat leaked into the public domain indicates that organizers "re- titled" seven sessions in order to satisfy the UAE. According to the memo, "Th e session de- scriptions now focus more on standards of international law, in an eff ort to clarify any mis- conception that they were par- ticularly targeting the [Gulf Co- operation Council] countries." Th e IBA says it didn't take much to address the concerns. "We changed the name of the death penalty session to capital punishment and the name of the extra-territorial jurisdiction session to universal jurisdic- tion, and in these cases that's all it took to satisfy the security branch," says Mark Ellis, the London, England-based execu- tive director of the IBA. Organizers, however, can- celled one of the sessions on women and Islam. Th e memo insists "this action was taken by the [IBA] committee offi cers and not by the authorities, as they felt that, even though the speakers remained the same, the new session title might not attract suffi cient attendance." Th e committee took this action upon learning that the session's title would refer to women and the law instead. "Th e committee felt that the new name was a poor substi- tute for the original," says Ellis. "Th ey believed that the session The conference featured free and open discussions, says Mark Ellis. would be perceived as so weak that no one would show up." Th e changes have prompted concerns about censorship. But Ellis says authorities were quite serious about their concerns. "Th ey calculated very early on what the damages might be and were prepared to pay them rather than chance what they perceived as a security risk," he notes. Because the threat of cancel- lation came only fi ve weeks be- fore the conference was to begin, the IBA found itself in a diffi cult position. "Th e IBA is a complex organization which brings to- gether experts in all aspects of international and cross-border law in both the commercial and human rights arenas to pursue discussions and make progress in their specialties," says Ellis. "We did not want to jeopardize the holding of the conference as we felt it was necessary to pursue these important agendas yet also did not want to compro- mise on fundamental elements such as freedom of association and freedom of speech." At the same time, Ellis set down red-line terms that weren't negotiable. "We would not accept any conditions that would preclude us from dis- cussing conference issues local- ly or regionally, that targeted speakers or that required can- celling sessions or altering their content," he says. Ellis says the IBA reduced its red-line terms to a written communication but he refused to share the document with Law Times. However, he insists that the conference featured free and open discussions that even included a discussion of the so-called UAE Five contro- versy by a panel that had Israeli and Jordanian members. Th e controversy centres around blogger and political commentator Ahmed Man- GET THE LATEST ON SMALL CLAIMS COURT PRACTICE NEW EDITION ONTARIO SMALL CLAIMS COURT PRACTICE 2012 MR. JUSTICE MARVIN A. ZUKER For more than 30 years, Ontario Small Claims Court Practice has offered comprehensive coverage of every aspect of bringing or defending a claim. The new 2012 edition is updated to include all the latest cases and the most recent amendments to the rules and forms. NEW IN THIS EDITION • The newest forms, replacing those used prior to 2011, complete with easy-to-use MS Word versions • Updated case law current to May 2011 • An overview of the major amendments to the rules through 2011 • A comparison chart highlighting all changes to the Small Claims Court rules BONUS OFFER FOR STANDING ORDER SUBSCRIBERS: INTRODUCING PRACTICE ADVISOR FOR ONTARIO SMALL CLAIMS COURT PRACTICE Get Practice Advisor free with a standing order subscription to Ontario Small Claims Court Practice 2012. Emailed to you every three months, this service includes the most up-to-date information on statutory and regulatory changes affecting practice in Small Claims Court. Each Practice Advisor also provides Practice Directions and Notices from the court and Case digests derived from decisions published in Carswell Practice Cases relating to Small Claims Court. ORDER # 983595-68016 $94 Hardcover + CD-ROM August 2011 approx. 1140 pages 978-0-7798-3595-9 Annual volumes supplied on standing order subscription Practice Advisor available upon request on standing order subscription Multiple copy discounts available soor, lecturer Nasser bin Ghaith, and online activists Fahad Salim Dalk, Ahmed Abdul Khaleq, and Hassan Ali al-Khamis. Th ey've all been in jail in the UAE capital of Abu Dhabi since April. In June, authorities charged them under Article 176 of the penal code that makes it a crime to publicly insult the country's top offi cials and is punishable by up to fi ve years' imprisonment. None of the men is known to have advocated any violence or a change of government. Th e IBA also arranged for the attendance of Israeli delegates. "What the IBA and Mark Ellis did is unprecedented in arrang- ing for our attendance despite the absence of a diplomatic rela- tionship between Israel and the UAE and despite the contro- versy over an Israeli hit squad's alleged assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai in 2010," says Rachel Levitan of Levitan Sha- ron & Co., one of the delegates from the Israel Bar Association who attended the conference. Indeed, the Israelis became the guests of the Dubai govern- ment. It even picked up their expenses during the conference. "For security reasons, they put all of us in a fi ve-star hotel and picked up the bill," says another Israeli delegate, Eytan Epstein of Epstein Chomsky Osnat & Co. Although outgoing calls to Is- AVAILABLE RISK-FREE FOR 30 DAYS Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Order online at www.carswell.com Shipping and handling are extra. Price subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. rael aren't possible from Dubai, communications from Israel ar- rived without interference. "We had a security squad of about 30 people around the clock who were with us constantly, taking us everywhere, including on any tours we wanted to go on," says Epstein. "Th e only issue was that we had to move with the security people and couldn't go anywhere alone, but under the circum- stances we both understood and welcomed the arrangements, es- pecially because everyone was so friendly and accommodating." Whether Israel would recip- rocate in similar circumstances wasn't as clear. "I'm not at all sure that we would behave as well if the IBA had a conference in Isra- el at which Iranians and Syrians, among others, were delegates," says one Israeli source. www.lawtimesnews.com

• Cover
• IBA Censored?
• Law Matures
• Focus On Labour and Employment Law