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, specializing in the intersection of counterterrorism, entrapment law, and anti-Muslim bias in Canada’s legal system. Her research examines systemic issues in national security practices, particularly the litigation and over-policing of Muslims in post-9/11 Canada. Basema has presented her work at national and international conferences, and she is currently teaching Constitutional Law at Windsor Law.

 

 

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
University Of Toronto Fellowship - Law (2022-2025)
Nathan Strauss Q.C. Graduate Fellowship in International 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)

Today’s Totalitarianism: Mobilizing Knowledge against Totalitarian Trends (SSHRC grant), hosted by the University of British Columbia (July 2024). 

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, “Entrapped: John Nuttall, Amanda Korody, and Canada’s Counterterrorism Crisis“ (October 2024) Today’s Totalitarianism, online: <https://www.todaystotalitarianism.com/entrapped-canadas-counterterrorism-crisis>. 

Basema Al-Alami, "Is Canada finally taking far-right extremism seriously? Latest arrests are a positive sign" (6 June 2024), online: The Conversation <https://theconversation.com/is-canada-finally-taking-far-right-extremism....

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
Canadian Constitutional Law
Charter of Rights
Criminal Law 
Equality and Anti-Discrimination Law
International Law
Law and Religion
Legal History
National Security Law and Anti-Terrorism Law
Supervisor
Anver Emon
Committee Members
Kent Roach
Vincent Chiao
External links
LinkedIn
Twitter

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. Kent Roach writes "The fight against far-right terrorism is complex, arduous – and urgent"

Thursday, August 8, 2019

In a commentary in the Globe and Mail, Prof. Kent Roach assesses the steps Canada needs to take in order to effectively combat far-right terrorism ("The fight against far-right terrorism is complex, arduous – and urgent," August 7, 2019).

Read the full commentary on the Globe and Mail website, or below.

Prof. Anver Emon and alumnus Nader Hasan '06 write "What to do if CSIS comes knocking"

Thursday, August 15, 2019

In a commentary in the Toronto Star, Prof. Anver Emon and alumnus Nader Hasan bring attention to the issue of Muslim students receiving intimidating in-person approaches by CSIS officers, and explain their new initiative, the U of T National Security Student Support Hotline, to provide pro bono legal advice to students affected ("What to do if CSIS comes knocking," August 12, 2019).

Cara Locke*

Cara Locke (*née Mouland)
SJD Candidate
Thesis title:
Remedial Justice: The Legitimacy of Remedies for Unconstitutional Laws
Office in Falconer Hall
84 Queen's Park
Toronto, M5S 2C5
Email: cara.locke@mail.utoronto.ca

Cara is interested in how judges act like legislators, and how legislators act like judges.

Her doctoral project focuses on remedies for unconstitutional criminal legislation. Cara's previous work has been cited by the Supreme Court of Canada in support of a disciplined approach to suspended declarations of invalidity.

Outside of academia, Cara has front-line experience as a lawyer in both courtrooms and legislative chambers. This concrete grounding continues to shape her work on the proper boundaries between judges and legislators.

Education
LLM - Long Thesis
JD (Distinction)
BA (Hons) - Psychology and English
Awards and Distinctions
C. David Naylor Fellow
Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Scholar
Nathan Strauss Q.C. Graduate Fellow in Canadian Constitutional Law
Raoul Wallenberg Scholar
Doctoral Fellow, University of Toronto Faculty of Law
LLM Fellow, University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Professional Affiliations
Law Society of Ontario
Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
Canadian Bar Association
Selected Publications

“Remedying the Remedy: Bedford’s Suspended Declaration of Invalidity” (2018) 41:3 Man LJ 281. (Cited in G v Ontario, 2020 SCC 38)

"Debating the Rule of Law: The Curious Re-Enactment of the Solicitation Offence" (2021) 58:3 Alta L Rev 687.

 *née Mouland

Research Interests
Administrative Law
Canadian Constitutional Law
Charter of Rights
Comparative Law
Criminal Law 
Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Critical Legal Theory
Election Law
Judicial Decision-Making
Legal Ethics
Legal Process
Legal Theory
National Security Law and Anti-Terrorism Law
Political Philosophy and Theory
Supervisor
Kent Roach
Committee Members
Yasmin Dawood
Richard Stacey
External links
SSRN

University of Toronto Law Journal - special issue on Indigenous Law, and focus feature on National Security Litigation

Friday, August 10, 2018

The new issue of the University of Toronto Law Journal (Volume 68 Issue 3, summer 2018 ) is a special issue on Indigenous Law. The four articles in this special feature include Prof. Douglas Sanderson's "The residue of imperium: Property and sovereignty on Indigenous lands."

Pages