INEQUALITIES
Over 200 people gathered at NYU School of Law on September 22 and 23, 2016 to explore the intersections between tax law and human rights law. The event brought together leading practitioners and scholars from the fields of tax and human rights to discuss the ways in which tax policy can be viewed as a form of human rights policy, and how the international human rights framework might contribute to bringing greater equity and focus to the global tax regime.
The Center planned this conference with an aim to serve as the beginning of an ongoing interdisciplinary dialogue and lead to future exchanges and collaborative research and writing between tax and human rights scholars.
Keynote
Keynote address: Winnie Byanyima
Winne Byanyima, Executive Director, Oxfam International, kicked off a challenging and important dialogue about the human rights implications of tax policy and tax abuse, and the human rights imperatives to challenge and change the tax system at both the domestic and international levels.
Session 1
Are Human Rights Really Relevant to Tax?
- Allison Christians (McGill University Faculty of Law)
- Reuven Avi-Yonah (University of Michigan Law School)
- Edward Kleinbard (USC Gould School of Law)
- Mitchell Kane (NYU School of Law)
Session 2
The Human Rights Dimensions of Tax and Tax Abuse
- Kathleen Lahey (Queen’s University Faculty of Law)
- Ahmed Kayum (Columbia University)
- Sandra Fredman (University of Oxford Faculty of Law)
- Alex Cobham (Tax Justice Network)
- Olivier De Schutter (U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights)
Keynote
Keynote address: Gabriel Zucman
Gabriel Zucman, an author and professor of Economics at UC Berkele, is best known for his studies of inequality with Thomas Piketty and his book, The Hidden Wealth of Nations: The Scourge of Tax Havens, laid bare the role of corporate income tax policy and offshore tax evasion in spiraling economic inequality, reminding human rights and tax scholars alike of their shared obligation to address the growing gap between the haves and have-nots
Session 3
Beyond “Spillover”: North-South Dimensions of Tax and Tax Abuse
- Attiya Waris (University of Nairobi, Kenya)
- Niko Lusiani (Center for Economic and Social Rights)
- Steven Dean (Brooklyn Law School)
- Mary Cosgrove (J. E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics)
Session 4
Private Actors and the Public Purse: The Roles of Corporations, Lawyers, Accountants in Tax Abuse
- Dan Shaviro (NYU School of Law)
- Joe Bankman (Stanford Law School)
- Radhika Sarin (Oxfam GB)
- Celine Braumann (NYU School of Law, LLM program)
Session 5
The Responsibilities of Governments: The Case of Transparency
- Miranda Stewart (Australian National University)
- Joshua Blank (NYU School of Law)
- Arthur Cockfield (Queen’s University Faculty of Law)
- Tracy Kaye (Seton Hall Law)
- Alessandro Turina (IBFD)
Session 6
The Role of International Organizations: The Architecture of International Tax Reform
- Michael Lennard (Chief, International Tax Cooperation and Trade, U.N. Financing for Development Office);
- Erika Siu (NYU School of Law, Tax LLM program, ICRICT consultant)
- Annet Wanyana Oguttu (University of South Africa)
- Monica Iyer (NYU alum; independent consultant)
- Matti Ylonen (Fulbright PhD student, Yale)
Session 7
Tackling Inequality: Synergies between Tax and Human Rights Agendas
- Beverly Moran (Vanderbilt Law School)
- Ricardo Martner (CEPAL)
- Andre Smith (Delaware Law School)
- Bridget J. Crawford (Elizabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University)
- Carla Spivack (Oklahoma City University School of Law)
- Daniel Hemel (University of Chicago)
