Grads to give talk about justice in the United Nations

Two alumni of York’s Osgoode Hall Law School whose careers have taken them to New York City, where they are now involved with the United Nations’ internal justice system, are visiting York University today. While on the Keele campus, Brian Gorlick (JD ’88) and Rose Boyko (LLM ’06) will deliver a joint presentation titled “Building Rule of Law in the United Nations”. The presentation takes place at 1:30pm in Room 107 at Osgoode. Members of the York community are invited to attend the talk, which is co-sponsored by Osgoode Career Development Office and the Osgoode Labour & Employment Law Society.

Gorlick is the chief of the office of staff legal assistance in the Office of the Administration of Justice at the UN Secretariat in New York. He supervises a group of UN lawyers working in New York, Geneva, Nairobi, Addis Ababa and Beirut. He also works with a global network of volunteer and pro bono legal counsel, who defend the UN’s 60,000 employees, including former staff members or affected dependents of staff members, in administrative and disciplinary matters in the UN internal justice system.

In 2009, Boyko was appointed a judge of the UN Appeals Tribunal, a newly created court that deals with employee grievances and disciplinary cases of UN staff. Prior to her UN appointment, Boyko served as a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice where she presided in civil, criminal and family courts for nearly 15 years. She was the first aboriginal woman appointed to a superior court in Canada.

“We are delighted to welcome two of our distinguished graduates back to the law school,” said Osgoode Associate Dean Shelley Gavigan. “We look forward to hearing their presentation as well as discussing possible future opportunities for Osgoode to be involved with their work.”