Event

The Faculty of Law invites all students to a special human rights lecture by Mr. Rick Lines, Executive Director of Harm Reduction International in London, on 10^th February, 2012, from 1-3 pm, at the JFK Lecture Theatre.   

Mr. Lines will deliver his lecture on the topic “The Concern with the Health and Welfare of Mankind?: Drugs, Human Rights and Bridging ‘Parallel Universes’”

Abstract:

The stated objective of the international narcotics control regime, as defined in the three multilateral narcotics treaties, is to promote 'the health and welfare of mankind.' This objective suggests that the drug treaties are intended to fulfill broad humanitarian objectives, including to promote the health of the population. However, in many cases it is clear that domestic implementation of the drug treaties in fact undermines public and individual health, and is used as a basis to pursue numerous policies that violate human rights. This presentation will examine state efforts to control illicit narcotics though the lens of international human rights law, and will explore the multiple areas where human rights protections are violated in the name of drug control.   

About Rick Lines:

Rick Lines is a co-founder of the International Centre on Human Rights and Drug Policy. He has been working in HIV/AIDS, human rights and drug policy research and advocacy since the early 1990s. He is known for his work on prisoners’ rights, harm reduction and the death penalty for drug offences, and regularly speaks and publishes on these and other topics. He has held senior posts with non-governmental organisations in Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom, and has acted as a technical assistance advisor on HIV in prisons for several UN agencies. He currently works as the Executive Director of Harm Reduction International in London. 

He is a member of the Technical Advisory Group to the Global Commission on HIV and the Law and is a Core Member of the Reference Group to the United Nations on HIV and Injecting Drug Use. He holds Masters Degrees in both Sociology and International Human Rights Law.

To find out more, please contact the Faculty of Law at 662-2002 ext.82039, 82040.