A new addition to the Society’s legal education programme, the inaugural WS Immigration and Asylum Symposium launches at the Signet Library on 18 May 2023. Coinciding with the UNHCR’s recent announcement that 1 in every 30 people in the world is a migrant, and the evolution in Scottish immigration policy over recent months, the symposium will cover developments in law and policy for practioners in this area. The keynote address will be given by the Honourable Lord Richardson. Lord Richardson will be joined by conference chair Grace McGill WS (Burness Paull) and five further expert speakers. The symposium’s programme will move across topics from effective humanitarian protection to the business and educational benefits of successful immigration systems. The programme will also include the unique lived experience input of Ukrainian lawyers in Scotland.

The event will conclude with a cultural element in the early evening, with the screening of the award-winning documentary ‘Through Our Eyes’, followed by live Q&A with the documentary’s director, Samir Mehanović. Samir is a Bosnian and British BAFTA and IDFA winning director, who came to Edinburgh as an immigrant from the war in the Balkans in 1995. His moving documentary shares experiences of current refugees. Samir will be in conversation with Joyce McMillan, social and political columnist with The Scotsman. With thanks to sponsors, Burness Paull LLP.

Register your interest for the symposium here.

Book tickets for the film screening here.