01 May

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A NOBEL PRIZE, INDEED

The brouhaha surrounding the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to President Barrack Obama has been most unseemly and inappropriate. The Nobel Committee had the wisdom, foresight and intelligence to give this award to Mr Obama because it recognised just how significant an impact he has already had and can still have on world affairs and how much he can be an instrument to bring about peace, harmony and hope to a fractured and tortured world. The reactions and behaviour post-announcement of many Americans, ranged from being quite amazing, to just downright disgusting in some cases. Americans should hang their collective...

29 April

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BAKER: THA not using money to benefit isle

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in Media

Minister of Tobago Development Delmond Baker aroused the ire of PNM Senator Shamfa Cudjoe in the Senate yesterday when he accused the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) of siphoning off millions of dollars of its allocation from Central Government into election road-paving exercises, contingency funds and even a bank account. Baker, who made his second appearance in the Senate yesterday, was speaking during a motion on a Review of the Regional Health Authorities of Trinidad and Tobago brought by Independent Senator Dr Victor Wheeler. He said the THA received close to $2 billion every year from Central Government to run its affairs...

28 April

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PULP FICTION

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in Media, Newspaper Articles

Byline Author: Martin George Article Date: Sunday, June 21, 2009 Looking on at the daily body count as it piles up around Trinidad and Tobago makes you wonder if we aren’t looking at our own home-made version of the movie Pulp Fiction II. Looking on at the daily body count as it piles up around Trinidad and Tobago makes you wonder if we aren’t looking at our own home-made version of the movie Pulp Fiction II. The fiction is fuelled by the Ministry of National Insecurity, which presides over the collapse and total failure of any feelings of safety and security that the citizenry may have...

28 April

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FEW GOOD MEN TO PREVENT CORRUPTION

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in Media, Newspaper Articles

Byline Author: Martin George Article Date: Sunday, May 24, 2009 I start by defusing the battle-cry of the feminists, or those who may view the heading as sexist by saying it as we say in the law, that when we use such expressions, “the male embraces the female,” so the title also includes looking for a few good women. During the past few weeks, I have looked on in mild amusement as the nation has wrapped and tied itself into knots over the search for a few good men—and supposedly men of integrity—to be the integrity commissioners. Now, from my observations and analysis of...

28 April

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NO MORE INTEGRITY ACT

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in Media, Newspaper Articles

Byline Author: Martin George Article Date: Sunday, June 7, 2009 Attorney General John Jeremie has come back into office and has vowed to deal with corruption and to review the Integrity Act. I commend him for this. There is also a bit of advice I would proffer to him, which is that in one fell swoop, he may be able to deal with both corruption and the Integrity Act, and it starts by scrapping the whole Integrity Act. I would, therefore, repeat some suggestions from an earlier article whereby I proposed that there be a total name change and that we have no more...

28 April

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TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO DEATH PENALTY LAWS

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in Laws of Trinidad and Tobago

Chronology of Death Penalty laws in Trinidad and Tobago 1. The Bill of Rights 1688 expressly prohibits any “cruel and unusual punishment”. 2. According to Section 4 of the Offences Against the Person Act (Chapter 11:08) “Every person convicted of murder shall suffer death” and the Criminal Procedure Act (Chapter 12:02) in section 57 provides: “(1) Every warrant for the execution of any prisoner under sentence of death shall be under the hand and Seal of the President, and shall be directed to the Marshal, and shall be carried into execution by such Marshal or his assistant at such time and place as...

28 April

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MEMORANDUM ON THE REGISTRATION OF LOCAL AGENTS OF FOREIGN GOVERNEMENTS OR FOREIGN ENTERPRISES ACT 1980

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in Laws of Trinidad and Tobago

1. By this Act:- (a) Everybody who is an “Agent” of a “Foreign Government” or “Foreign Enterprise” must ensure that his Agreement in respect of his Agency is in writing and subject to the laws of Trinidad and Tobago and he must not enter into a contract providing for such an Agency otherwise than in accordance with this provision on penalty or a fine on summary conviction of $20,000.00 or five years imprisonment. (b) In respect of a Contract of Agency established after the commencement of the Act (namely the 8th December 1980) the Agent must within sixty (60) days of execution...

28 April

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A Modern Public Procurement Law For Trinidad And Tobago A Necessity For Good Governance

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in Laws of Trinidad and Tobago

This article highlights features of the submission of the Private Sector/Civil Society Group to Government for a modern procurement law as specified in the Draft Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Bill available at www.jcc.org.tt/procurement. The impact of the proposed law will – systemically bring all agencies spending public money under a single, overarching legal and regulatory framework that effectively covers all stages of the procurement process; provide effective mechanisms for oversight and control; require appropriate transparency of the value and impact of transactions involving public money; ensure, as far as possible, integrity in the public procurement system; meet international anti-corruption standards consistent with our...

27 April

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COMMERCIAL LAW MEMORANDUM ON EXCHANGE CONTROL

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in Laws of Trinidad and Tobago

1. The Exchange Control Act Chap. 79:50 regulates all foreign currency transactions in Trinidad and Tobago and is designed to prevent the escape of currency and preserve the Country’s foreign exchange reserve. Prior to April 12, 1993 there existed under the Exchange Control Act and Regulations made thereunder a range of controls and restrictions in respect of dealings in gold, local and foreign currencies, securities and payments to non-residents designed strictly to control any leakage of foreign exchange. To be lawful any such dealings required the prior approval of the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago. 2. With the passage of...

27 April

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Commercial Law Memorandum On Foreign Investment

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in Laws of Trinidad and Tobago

1. The former restrictive provisions of the Aliens (Landholding) Act have been repealed and replaced by a new Foreign Investment Act, No. 16 of 1990 designed to encourage investment by foreign investors. 2. A foreign investor is defined by the Act to mean:- (a) An individual who is neither a citizen of "a Caricom member country" nor a resident of Trinidad and Tobago; (b) Any firm, partnership or unincorporated body of persons of whom at least one half of its members consist of persons to whom (a) or (c) applies; or (c) Any company that is not incorporated in a Caricom member country, or...

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