07 June

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“What tangled single webs we weave”

There is tremendous good which can come out of the present brouhaha concerning the recent investiture of persons at the Bar and Bench with the title of Senior Counsel, if only for the fact that it makes us as a nation, examine the entire process and try to reform, repeal or re-make the process and the system, so that it is not accused of merely being a silken road towards self-aggrandisement, self-praise and self-enrichment. Every Tom, Dick and Harrypaul Public outcry has arisen and justifiably so, over the manner of the present appointments and unlike on previous occasions where there may have...

06 June

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A gloom over Jaroo’s Case

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This article concludes the series on the Jaroo case. My friend and esteemed colleague Avory Sinanan, former temporary Judge and experienced Advocate at the Bar, has consented to make the “closing arguments” in the case against the Privy Council’s Jaroo decision. Mr Sinanan’s argument goes as follows: There is no gainsaying that the Privy Council’s decision in Jaroo’s Case fell upon the local legal community “like a ton of bricks.” It brought with it a certain spectre of doom and gloom, so far as constitutional redress was concerned. The notion pushed to the forefront was if the litigant had a parallel remedy at...

06 June

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Crime destroying Tobago Tourism

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With the latest murder in Tobago taking the tally up to ten for the year to date, it behooves us as a nation to take a long, hard look at what we are doing or not doing to our once pristine paradise island of Tobago. Whether we want to admit it or not, Tobago is changing and changing rapidly. Trinidadians and other visitors to the island have always revelled in the past in the fact that Tobago was one of the safest places on earth. Everybody knew everyone else and they were all, by and large, one big happy family where...

31 May

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More than Dillon, Rowley answerable for T&T crime

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Prime Minister Keith Rowley last weekend confirmed personal ownership of the crime problem. That was the effect of his unshaken commitment to keep Edmund Dillon as National Security Minister. Murders had reached 200 for 2016 when Dr Rowley was invited to reckon the record in office of retired major general Dillon. Indeed, the year-to-date murder count had exceeded that of 2015 by some 25 per cent. Understandably, the T&T murder toll has remained the conventional measure of progress in containing crime. Increasing murders, mostly undetected, remain a reflection on the performance of whoever is the minister under which policing falls. The Prime...

23 May

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Court Room etiquette

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Courtrooms are almost always filled with passion, emotions and drama. Litigation can be a stressful process and often complainants or defendants find it difficult to cope with attending court. Factors such as behaviour and appearance may actually play a part in the outcome of your case. Stay informed: The first step in coping with a lawsuit is to get the correct information about the process. Talk to a lawyer about what to expect, what kind of time limits are in place, whether you have a good basis upon which to bring a claim or to dispute liability or claimed damages, and whether...

19 May

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Issue standing orders

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Newsday Editorial, published on Thursday 19th May 2016 THE STATE should heed the call of High Court Judge Frank Seepersad who, on Tuesday, called for the implementation of what he termed a proper regulatory framework to govern joint police-army patrols. Justice Seepersad made the call as he ruled that a soldier on one of these patrols in 2011 was negligent in the discharge of a firearm which led to the injury of a police officer. The soldier claimed the safety on his MP5 firearm had been engaged. The court found otherwise. It awarded the police officer $136,000 in damages. But after weighing all...

12 May

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‘Case not closed’

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IN THE SENATE on Tuesday, Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi made a telling admission. “It isn’t that we don’t have a right to privacy,” he told Independent Senator Paul Richards. “What I explained was that it is a qualified right and that the Judiciary has recognised that and called for better legislation to deal with privacy.” Mere days before, Al-Rawi had made a jaw-dropping claim. Far from saying there was a right to privacy – qualified or otherwise – the Attorney General told the country the right to privacy did not even exist as a right entrenched in our Constitution. “There is no enshrined right...

10 May

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No simple matter

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THE LEGAL measures governing the current speed limit go as far back as 1956. Much water has passed under the bridge since then. As such, we welcome Works and Transport Minister Fitzgerald Hinds’ disclosure that the matter of the 80 kilometre per hour speed limit is under review. Last week in Parliament, the minister was careful not to rule out raising the maximum speed. At the same time, he was not precipitous. A decision like this cannot be made rashly. It must be done on the basis of advice from technical experts at the Ministry of Works. And it must factor in...

09 May

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The rights of the foetus

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THE ZIKA virus and its implications for pregnant women have set in train further debates about a woman’s right to abortion. The issues are complex and it is possible that there will never be consensus. It is only common sense that a pregnant woman cannot be placed in a position as existed in Ireland in 2012 when a 31-year-old Indian dentist, Savita Halappanavar, died due to complications of a septic miscarriage and because the hospital staff hesitated to abort the foetus since it might not be legal. According to legal experts in Trinidad and Tobago, common law precedents already provide for...

09 May

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Former Chief Justice wise proposal.

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THE PROBLEMS plaguing the prison system are hardly new. But a recent proposal made by former Chief Justice Michael de la Bastide offers the State a fresh solution to one defect which the system suffers from. In an interview with Newsday published last Thursday, the former Chief Justice put forward a new approach to cases involving persons left waiting in jail for periods longer than the sentence they face. He suggested these persons be granted “own bail”, or bail which would not require security. The prisoner would pay a deposit to be held by the State. Should the prisoner abscond, the...