Prof. Meili Discusses Human Rights Research at Toronto Conference

Professor Steve Meili presented his research on the impact of international human rights treaties on Canadian asylum jurisprudence at the Canadian Association for Refugee and Forced Migration Studies Annual Conference, held at Osgoode Hall Law School at York University in Toronto. Meili's presentation, which is part of a larger empirical study that includes domestic court jurisprudence and practice in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, was based on a database of more than 4,000 Canadian federal court and administrative tribunal decisions in asylum cases since 1990, as well as interviews with lawyers who specialize in representing refugees. This empirical data has enabled Meili to identify the circumstances under which human rights treaties help or hurt asylum-seekers.