{"id":46224,"date":"2025-03-28T01:42:59","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T08:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=46224"},"modified":"2025-03-27T16:28:38","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T23:28:38","slug":"exchange-of-expertise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/03\/28\/exchange-of-expertise\/","title":{"rendered":"Exchange of expertise"},"content":{"rendered":"

Among the activities in which Hebrew University of Jerusalem\u2019s Dr. Shiran Reichenberg, left, took part while she was in Vancouver was a lunch and learn at Lawson Lundell LLP, hosted by Peter Tolensky. <\/i>(photo from CFHU Vancouver)<\/i><\/p>\n

Dr. Shiran Reichenberg, executive director of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem law faculty\u2019s Clinical Legal Education Centre, was in Vancouver recently, as part of a professorship exchange with the University of British Columbia.<\/p>\n

The exchange program started in 2010, with funding from Canadian Friends of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and members of the local legal profession and judiciary. From 2013 to 2019, it was named in honour of Mitchell Gropper, QC, and, since 2021, in recognition of the Koffman family\u2019s financial support, it has been formally called the Morley Koffman Memorial Allard School of Law UBC and Hebrew University Law Faculty Professor Exchange Program.<\/p>\n

Koffman was an alum of UBC law school in 1952. He practised at Freeman, Freeman, Silvers and Koffman, and was awarded Queen\u2019s Counsel in 1986. His firm, Koffman Kalef, was established in 1993.<\/p>\n

One of the founders of the exchange program was Bruce Cohen, whose career has included, among other things, almost three decades as a BC Supreme Court justice. In the CFHU and UBC announcements of the Koffman family\u2019s donation, Cohen says, \u201cGiven the high level of respect and regard for Morley\u2019s reputation in the legal, university, Jewish and general communities as a wise counsel and recognized leader it is perfectly appropriate for the program to be named in his honour as a reflection of the importance placed by him and his family on scholarship, professionalism and tikkun olam.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the CFHU website, Cohen notes, \u201cThe ability of the program to operate in the initial few years of its existence was due in large measure to Morley\u2019s assistance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CFHU Vancouver organizing committee for the exchange program consisted of Cohen, Sam Hanson, Peter Hotz, Shawn Lewis, Randy Milner, Phil Switzer, Peter Tolensky, Dina Wachtel and the late Allen Zysblat. The annual exchange even operated during the pandemic, albeit virtually.<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Dr. Shiran Reichenberg, left, visits Temple Sholom\u2019s Oct. 7 memorial with the synagogue\u2019s Associate Rabbi Carey Brown.\u00a0(photo from CFHU Vancouver)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reichenberg\u2019s February-March visit to Vancouver was for just over two weeks, during which time she taught a course at UBC and spoke to various groups, including at Lawson Lundell LLP for a lunch and learn hosted by Peter Tolensky and at UBC\u2019s Peter A. Allard School of Law, as well as at Temple Sholom for a lunch and learn organized by the Sisterhood, said Wachtel, vice-president, community affairs, at CFHU.<\/p>\n

While Reichenberg regularly attends international conferences and lectures, this was her first time in Vancouver and, she said, \u201cIt was a very, very different experience to teach an intensive course for two weeks, each class three hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reichenberg, who is also the director of the Clinical Legal Education Centre\u2019s Children and Youth Rights Clinic, said the course she gave here focused on the development of children\u2019s rights and covered international documents, such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and other agreements, like the African Charter on Human and People\u2019s Rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got very deep into several aspects of the convention and main principles, mainly best interest [of the child] and the right to participation. We talked about youth at risk, in criminal proceedings, in care proceedings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Reichenberg graduated with her bachelor and her master of laws from the Hebrew University. She also studied in London, England, having received the Leonard Sainer Chevening Scholarship for LLM studies at University College London. She became interested in children\u2019s rights law when she was a second-year student and participated in the Clinical Legal Education Centre\u2019s Street Law Program, which is still part of the Children and Youth Rights Clinic she now directs.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach of us was put in a different residential care facility for youth at risk,\u201d said Reichenberg, who was placed with a locked facility in Jerusalem. \u201cWhen we entered this place and got an explanation about the girls and their life and what happened to them, it changed the course of my life. I stayed and I did another legal clinic in my third year of law school: representation of children\u2019s rights, of children in court proceedings.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In doing her PhD, Reichenberg focused on the right of youth at risk to participate in care proceedings, and her research included interviews with some of the girls from the Jerusalem care facility.<\/p>\n

Children\u2019s rights have their origin in labour law, Reichenberg said.<\/p>\n

\u201cChildren, from the beginning of humanity until maybe the Industrial Revolution \u2026 died a lot, so parents didn\u2019t get attached to them that much,\u201d she explained. \u201cAnd they were also considered as property of their parents, mostly their fathers, so they were sold, they were used to work, they were part of supporting the family; they weren\u2019t what we consider them today. There is evidence that, in ancient times, children weren\u2019t even given names, just numbers, because they died so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

But when children came to be working in mines and in factories, for example, \u201clegislation gave them rights, to work only 12 hours a day and sleep at night, and things like that,\u201d said Reichenberg, adding that the invention of the printing press, which meant that people needed to learn how to read, was an impetus for the establishment of schools.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The first child-related labour laws were English laws, passed in the early 1800s. The first youth court took place in the United States in 1874, and it involved the first case reported of child abuse, said Reichenberg. \u201c[Mary Ellen McCormack] was abused by her stepmom and when the people wanted to help her, there was no law that protected children, so they used the law that protected animals from abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Children and Youth Rights Clinic is one of nine offered by the Clinical Legal Education Centre. There are also clinics on climate change and environmental law; human rights in cyberspace; multiculturalism and diversity; representation of marginalized population groups; criminal justice; international human rights; the rights of people with disabilities; and wrongful convictions.<\/p>\n

The centre can take a maximum of 140 students, with each clinic having, on average, 16 to 20 students.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have many more people who want to enrol than the places that we can give,\u201d said Reichenberg, explaining that the clinics must be kept relatively small, given that they are working on legal cases.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach clinic is taught by a lawyer and there is a maximum number of cases that one person can handle, so we can\u2019t have too many students,\u201d she said. \u201cAlso, it allows us to have in-depth discussions in our classes with our students. And we always sit in a circle and there\u2019s always dialogue, and it\u2019s something that can be accomplished only in small groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Clinical Legal Education Centre takes a three-pronged approach. It handles upwards of 1,000 cases a year, providing legal aid and representation to individuals from marginalized groups. It also works for policy change, through test cases and position papers, for example, and offers public lectures and workshops to raise awareness, increase knowledge and promote discussion.<\/p>\n

Since the Hamas terror attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the centre has taken on an increased role in teaching and advocating for human rights. It has represented groups like the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in front of different United Nations bodies, for example, and has been operating Hamal Hevrati <\/i>(War Room), a Facebook page providing legal aid to vulnerable populations, which has handled about 100 inquiries to date.<\/p>\n

As well, the centre serves diverse clients and has a multicultural staff and student body, all of which include members of the Palestinian minority.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not in war with the entire Palestinian people, we are in war with Hamas, and there is a difference,\u201d said Reichenberg.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we help those who need our help. And we work together, we study together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been hard, she admitted. \u201cBut we have to believe in working together and living together because none of us is going anywhere and we have to live together and work together for a long time \u2026 we have to find a way to do that and this is what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reichenberg is proud of how the centre has adapted to the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn class, we have students who came from military reserves, still with their uniforms and their weapons. We have Arab students who have family in Gaza, which they haven\u2019t heard from,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have students who lost people they loved on the 7th of October and since. I personally have a student who I loved deeply and he died in the war, in his military reserve [service] in Gaza. And, also, in the staff, as I said, we\u2019re a mixed staff and a lot of emotions came out on the 7th of October and we did a lot of preparation for staff, how to work with the students in this environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s not perfect, Reichenberg said, \u201cit is certainly an amazing thing to see how everyone is sitting together, learning together, doing legal work together, for the same goal.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Among the activities in which Hebrew University of Jerusalem\u2019s Dr. Shiran Reichenberg, left, took part while she was in Vancouver was a lunch and learn at Lawson Lundell LLP, hosted by Peter Tolensky. (photo from CFHU Vancouver) Dr. Shiran Reichenberg, executive director of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem law faculty\u2019s Clinical Legal Education Centre, was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46230,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1726,63,4663,3076,1834,4242,23920,2251,23919,3556,309],"class_list":["post-46224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-canadian-friends-of-hebrew-university","tag-cfhu","tag-childrens-rights","tag-education","tag-hebrew-university","tag-history","tag-koffman-family","tag-law","tag-shiran-reichenberg","tag-ubc","tag-university-of-british-columbia"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46224","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46224\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}