TORONTO, October 10, 1997 -- Sir Stephen Sedley, one of Britain's most high-profile judges, will speak at York University's Osgoode Hall Law School on the debate in Britain over whether to adopt a bill of rights.

One of the planks of the new Labour government's election platform was to adopt the provisions of the European Convention on Human Rights as part of British law, in essence creating a bill of rights for Britain. In the annual Laskin Lecture on Public Law on Wednesday, October 15, 1997, Sedley will explore the effects a bill of rights could have on the British legal system, and will examine what lessons the U.K. can take from the Canadian experience with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Sedley will also reflect on the two options confronting the Labour government in drawing up a bill of rights: to adopt a Canadian model, in which the bill "trumps" all government legislation, or to adopt a New Zealand-style bill of rights, in which rights are considered subordinate to legislation.

Sedley was appointed a judge of the Queen's Bench Division of the British High Court in 1992 after a high-profile career as a lawyer whose contribution outside the courtroom received widespread public attention. Before becoming a judge, he was active in fighting for the rights of the wrongfully convicted and for those who had been victims of wrongful activity by government.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Sedley summarized his views on the value of a bill of rights for Britain in a 1990 article in the Journal of Law and Society: "There is a dramatic need to match recognition of modern public rights -- to a safe environment, to food and shelter -- with a fresh paradigm of state with enforceable duties to protect people, and of a new generation of civil rights enforceable against bodies both public and private which invade them."

Sedley's rulings as a judge have had significant implications for social policy. His widely reported judgements include a ruling to review the British navy's dismissal, on the grounds of homosexuality, of a leading medical assistant, and a landmark decision this August which ruled unlawful a law permitting the temporary incarceration in adult jails of children convicted of a crime.

WHAT: Osgoode Hall Law School at York University presents:
The Laskin Lecture on Public Law by Mr. Justice Stephen Sedley "A Bill of Rights for the United Kingdom: from London to Strasbourg by the North West Passage?"

WHEN: Wednesday, October 15, 1997 at 12:30 p.m.

WHERE: Moot Court Room, Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, 4700 Keele Street

PLEASE NOTE: Parking passes are available for media by calling the contact numbers below.

For more information, please contact:

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor for Media Relations
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
email: sinem@yorku.ca

Alison Masemann
Media Relations Officer
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22086
email: masemann@yorku.ca
YU/086/97