Basema Al-Alami

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Inside the Courtroom: Litigating Islam and Muslimness in Canadian Entrapment Trials
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: basema.al.alami@mail.utoronto.ca

Basema Al-Alami is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Her dissertation critically examines the landmark entrapment trial of R v Nuttall, a singular instance in Canadian law where the defence of entrapment resulted in a stay of proceedings in a terrorism trial. This case serves as a crucial focal point for exploring the nuanced ways in which Islam and Muslimness are litigated within Canadian courtrooms. Through a comprehensive analysis of court archives, including transcripts, tapes, and motions, this study unravels how the Canadian judicial system navigates and constructs Muslimness in the context of terrorism-related trials. The research highlights the courtroom as a critical arena where Muslimness is dissected and interrogated, often leading to the problematic conflation of Islam with criminality. This investigation reveals how such legal proceedings transcend the mere evaluation of the accused’s actions to question broader societal and cultural narratives surrounding Islam and Muslimness, mirroring and perpetuating existing stereotypes.

 

 

Education
Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) Candidate, University of Toronto Faculty of Law (Present)
Master of Laws (LL.M.), University of Toronto Faculty of Law (2022)
Juris Doctor (J.D.), Osgoode Hall Law School (2020)
Honours Bachelor of Arts (HBA), University of Toronto (2017)
Awards and Distinctions
Nathan Strauss Q.C. Graduate Fellowship in International Law (2022-2023)
University Of Toronto Fellowship - Law (2022-2023)
Nathan Strauss Q.C. Graduate Fellowship in International Law (2021-2022)
Benjamin Laufer Prize in International Law (2019-2020)
The Honourable N.W. Rowell Prize (2019-2020)
The Honourable N.W. Rowell Prize (2018-2019)
Dean's Graduation Award, University of Toronto (2017)
Joseph Alfred Whealy In-Course Scholarship (2016-2017)
University Of Toronto Scholar - Beatty (2015-2016)
The Erindale Admission Scholarships (2013-2014)
University Of Toronto Scholar (2013-2014)
Professional Affiliations
Centre for Criminology & Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto
Canadian Association for Forced Migration and Refugee Studies
Other information

Conferences, Workshops, and Presentations (Selected)

Legal Contradictions: Identifying Iterations of Us versus Them, hosted by the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies at the University of Toronto (September 2023).

Interrogating Islamophobia in the ‘war on terror’ after two decades, hosted by the 12th National Conference of Critical Perspectives / Criminology & Social Justice in Ottawa (May 2023). 

United Nations Counter Terrorism Committee delegation visit to Canada, hosted by the Committee (February 2023). 

9/11 and the Canadian Settler Colony Conference, hosted by Windsor Law (October 2022). 

University of Toronto - Humboldt University Workshop, hosted by the Institute of Islamic Studies (September 2022).

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Taskforce, hosted by Humber College (July 2022).

 

 

Selected Publications

Basema Al-Alami, "Israel isn’t complying with the International Court of Justice ruling — what happens next?" (6 February 2024), online: The Conversation <https://theconversation.com/israel-isnt-complying-with-the-international....

Basema Al-Alami, "The global call for accountability in Germany, Namibia, and Canada" (25 January 2024), online: The Hill Times <https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2024/01/25/the-global-call-for-accountab....

Basema Al-Alami, "The humanitarian crisis in Gaza: a cry for humanity" (18 October 2023), online: Toronto Star <https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/the-humanitarian-crisis-in-....

Basema Al-Alami. “Canadian law enforcement agencies continue to target Muslims” (12 July 2023), online: The Conversation <https://theconversation.com/canadian-law-enforcement-agencies-continue-t....

Lisa Forman, Basema Al-Alami & Kaitlin Fajber, “An Inquiry into State Agreement and Practice on the International Law Status of the Human Right to Medicines” (2022) 24:2 Health Hum. Rights 125.

Obiora Chinedu Okafor, Titilayo Adebola & Basema Al-Alami, “Viewing the International Labour Organization’s Social Justice Praxis  through a  Third World Approaches to International Law Lens: Some Preliminary Insights”, in George Politakis, et al. eds, ILO 100: Law for Social Justice (Geneva: International Labour Organization, 2019), online: <https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---dgreports/---jur/documents/p....

Nathan Innocente, Basema Al-Alami, Amanda Borthwick, Alfred Pepushaj, & Harmehr Sekhon. 2018. “The Teaching Opportunity Program: Integrating Undergraduate Students in Course Design, Assessment, and Teaching.” Society for Teaching and Learning in Higher Education annual conference, Sherbrooke, QC, June 19-22.

Research Interests
International Law
Law and Religion
National Security Law and Anti-Terrorism Law
Supervisor
Anver Emon
Committee Members
Kent Roach
Vincent Chiao
External links
LinkedIn
Twitter

Majid Nikouei

SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Constituent Power in Theory and Practice of Islamic Republic of Iran: A Historical Analysis
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: majid.nikouei@mail.utoronto.ca

Majid Nikouei thinks about modern constitutionalism and its challenges in Muslim-majority countries. He is particularly interested in how the elements of modern constitutionalism, such as rule of law and human rights, can be implemented in the Iranian and Shi'ite contexts. Before joining the University of Toronto, Majid was an adjacent lecturer at Islamic Azad University (Iran) and has taught courses in constitutional law, Islam and human rights, and public law in Islam.

Education
PhD (Public Law), Shahid Beheshti university (formerly known as National University), Tehran, Iran (summa cum laude)
M.Soc.Sc.(International Human Rights Law), Åbo Akademi University (ÅAU), Turku, Finland (summa cum laude)
L.L.M. (International Law), Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran (highest honours)
L.L.B. Shahid Beheshti university (formerly known as National University), Tehran, Iran
Awards and Distinctions
University of Toronto, Faculty of Law Scholarship, 2019.
Visiting Scholar, Pretoria University, South Africa, 2016.
NOET (National Organization of Educational Testing) Scholarship, Iran, 2005.
Professional Affiliations
Lawyer, Iranian Central Bar Association, 2017-present.
Adjunct Professor, Islamic Azad University of Najaf Aabad, 2015-2018.
Head of International and Human Rights Committee in Isfahan Bar Association (Iran), 2018.
Member of LAWJIP (Law, Justice and International Peace) Foundation, Esfahan, Iran, 2017
Selected Publications

English

"Jurisprudence of Tolerance: Hate Speech, Article 17 and Theory of Democracy in the European Convention on Human Rights" (2019) 8:1 International Human Rights Law Review 67-88 (with M. Zamani).

"Intervention by Invitation, Collective Self-defence and the Enigma of Effective Control" (2017) 16:4 Chinese Journal of International Law 663-694 (with M. Zamani).

"The Secession of Crimea: Where Does International Law Stand?" (2016) 85:1 Nordic Journal of International Law 37-64 (with M. Zamani).

Persian (Farsi)

 Articles

"From Natural Law to Natural Rights: Conceptual Analysis and Historical Evolution" (2017) 47:3 Public Law Studies Quarterly 747-769 (with S. Seyed Fatemi).

"A Critical analysis of ‘Disclosive Quality of Certainty (Qat‘) in Revealing Reality’ in Shi‘i Osul al-fiqh‌ in Light of Modern Epistemology" (2019) 11:20 Journal of Studies in Islamic Law and Jurisprudence 373-402 (with H Saraf). 

"The Avicenna’s Contribution to the Natural Law Theory of Aquinas" (2016) 2:2 Journal of Comparative Studies on Islamic and Western Law 49-76 (with S. Seyed Fatemi).

 "Reexamining the independent rationality (al-mustaqillat al-‘aqliyya) in Shi‘i Osul al-fiqh in Light of Rawls’s Analytical Framework in ‘Theory of Justice’" Journal of Comparative Law (NAMEH-YE MOFID) Forthcoming.

"Examining the Legality of Intervention by Invitation: A Critical Approach to Interventions in Mali, Ukraine, Syria and Yemen" (2017) 18:54 The Quarterly Journal of Public Law Research 289-317 (with M. Zamani).

"Examining the Exercise of Self-determination in Crimea from the Perspective of International and Constitutional Law" (2016) 73:1 Revue de la Recherche Juridique 253-284 (with M. Zamani).

"Human Rights and Rawls’s the Law of People: A Critical Approach" (2012) 76:79 The Judiciary Law Journal 125-153.

 Books

Natural Law in Shi‘ite Teachings and Its Implications For Theory of State, Tehran: Nashre Ney (forthcoming).

 Translation From English to Farsi: Anderi Marmor, Philosophy of Law, Princeton University Press, 2011. The translation was published by Negahe Moaser Publication, 2012 (with S. Abedi).

Research Interests
International Law
Islamic Law
Law and Religion
Legal History
Legal Theory
Political Philosophy and Theory
Supervisor
Mohammad Fadel
Committee Members
David Dyzenhaus
Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi, Professor of History and Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations at University of Toronto

Kashmir Human Rights Crisis: A Teach-In

Kashmir Human Rights Crisis: A Teach-In
November 4, 2019, 6-8 pm
Moot Court Room, J250
Jackman Law Building, 78 Queens Park Crescent

Prof. Anver Emon hosts conference “Ibadism and the Study of Islam: A View from the Edge”

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

https://www.utoronto.ca/sites/default/files/Ibadi-conference-group-photo-weblead.jpgThe 10th annual Conference on Ibadi Studies welcomed a diverse range of global scholars to discuss historical and contemporary topics in Ibadism (photo by D. Olms)

By Jovana Jankovic

Prof. Anna Su writes "The Supreme Court has dismissed religious practice as a matter of mere choice in its TWU decision"

Tuesday, June 19, 2018

In a commentary for the CBC, Prof. Anna Su analyzes the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in the case of Trinity Western University's law school accreditation by provincial law societies in terms of its approach to religious practice ("The Supreme Court has dismissed religious practice as a matter of mere choice in its TWU decision," June 18, 2018).

Read the full commentary on the CBC website, or below.

The Supreme Court has dismissed religious practice as a matter of mere choice in its TWU decision

By Anna Su

Prof. Anna Su writes "Court to weigh conflicting rights in grant case" in Toronto Star

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

In a commentary in the Toronto Star, Prof. Anna Su analyzes the complexities of a case where a private non-profit group was denied federal student jobs funding because of a requirement applicants affirm respect for human rights, including reproductive rights ("Court to weigh conflicting rights in grant case," January 17, 2018).

Read the full commentary below.

Court to weigh conflicting rights in grant case

By Anna Su

January 17, 2018

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