For the first time, Osgoode Hall Law School at York University is hosting four visitors, from March 6 to 17, through the Justice Studies Center of the Americas (JSCA) Judicial Internship Program.
This new program, made possible by a Government of Canada grant, provides the interns (established professionals in their fields) with an opportunity to study overseas, in an effort to foster judicial reform and increase access to justice in the Americas region. This year’s interns have come from Argentina, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago to conduct research on topics ranging from Aboriginal rights to small claims litigation, alternative dispute resolution and access to information.
“We are excited to be able to contribute to this important international initiative on justice reform, and anticipate a fruitful collaboration with the JSCA,” said Carys Craig, associate dean (Research and Institutional Relations) at Osgoode. “We are delighted to host the interns and look forward to seeing the research that they produce in support of civil procedure reform processes in their home countries.”
Pictured, from left: Professor Carys Craig, associate dean Research and Institutional Relations; Shoshanna V. Lall (Trinidad and Tobago); Carolina Ahumada (Argentina); Fernando Kosovsky (Argentina); Kamla Jo Braithwaite (Trinidad and Tobago); Professor Benjamin Berger, associate dean Students
This year’s interns are:
Carolina Ahumada – a criminal law specialist who lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she works in the Judicial Branch of the Federal Chamber of Criminal Cassation. She has been director of the Access to Justice area of Instituto de Estudios Comparados en Ciencias Penales y Sociales (INECIP), and coordinator and head since 2015 of the “Houses of Justice Pilot Project” in Sanagasta, province of La Rioja.
Kamla Jo Braithwaite – an attorney at law from Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago. Since 2010, she has been a judicial researcher for the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago. She currently works at the Judicial Education Institute of Trinidad and Tobago, assisting with the publication of handbooks and bench books (for use in court) and other material, as well as the formulation and facilitation of training programs for judges, judicial officers and other staff.
Fernando Kosovsky – a lawyer from Buenos Aires who has been involved with Grupo de Apoyo Juridico por el Acceso a la Tierra (GAJAT), Centro de Políticas Públicas para el Socialismo and INECIP. Since 2004, he has litigated the Mapuche people’s territory claims in Patagonia. He is a founding member of AADI, Asociación de Abogados/as de Derecho Indígena, and co-author of Propiedad Comunitaria Indígena (2015).
Shoshanna V. Lall – an attorney at law and member of the Bar Associations of Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana. She is currently the senior legal officer in the Office of the President of Trinidad and Tobago. She formerly clerked, as a Judicial Research Counsel, in the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago, and was also a senior associate in the Litigation Department of one of Trinidad and Tobago’s foremost corporate/commercial law firms.