By Nalinee Seelal
February 03, 2012 – newsday.co.tt
POLICE officers last night charged Arlene Blackman — Principal of Blackman’s Private School in Maraval — with two counts of Cruelty to Children, under the Children’s Act, Chap 46:01, Section III(I), for allegedly placing the head of two students in a toilet bowl at her school and flushing it.
Continue reading Principal Charged with Cruelty to Children
By Raffique Shah
January 21, 2012
JUSTICE Minister Herbert Volney invariably comes across as a joker in the theatre of the macabre…a kind of black humour specialist.
He seems not to know whether his role is to make people laugh, cry or have a compelling urge to throttle him. He cannot decide if he is an entertainer, intimidator or Soca Monarch contender.
Continue reading Joker wild in Cabinet
Mom, dad & daughter ripped off immigrants
By Christina Carrega
January 12, 2012 – nypost.com
A seething Queens judge walloped three members of a crooked Richmond Hill family yesterday, sending them upstate to serve a combined 418 years for a brazen immigration and real-estate scam.
The mom, dad and daughter — dubbed “The Ramsundar Gang” by Queens Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Holder — paid a shocking price for defrauding 19 families of $1.8 million over six years.
Continue reading Trini Scam family sent off to prison in U.S.
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
January 11, 2012
Karl Hudson Philip’s brilliant advocacy for a respect of legal tradition and his reminder that standards ought to be adhered to touched an important note in Trinidad and Tobago’s psyche. Reading Hudson Philip, I was reminded of a time when things were simpler, standards were more transparent and justice [or perhaps consistency] was among desired outcomes. One stands amazed as one contrasts the legal maneuverings of Ish and Steve, the shenanigans of Calder Hart and Laurence Duprey, and the audacity of Harrynarine of the Hindu Credit Union with the behavior of British officials during the days of slavery.
Continue reading Looking Backward
By Michael Harris
January 08, 2012 – trinidadexpress.com
What is the difference between a silkworm and a maggot? This is the question which popped into my head as I reflected on the current controversy which has erupted over the recent appointment of senior counsel. Frankly I did not think that there was anything salient which could be added to the debate after the cogent and comprehensive submissions made by Messrs Hudson-Phillips SC and former CJ Michael de la Bastide.
I changed my mind, however, after reading the brilliantly lucid summation of the issues presented by Terrence Farrell in his article in the Express on January 5. It often happens that a particularly lucid exposition on any topic can serve to excite new and additional insights which help to develop the issue further.
Continue reading Of Silkworms and Maggots
Cops find no evidence to support plan to kill PM, Moonilal, AG, Sharma
By Akile Simon
January 07, 2012 – trinidadexpress.com
THE police investigation into allegations that 17 men were part of an alleged plot to assassinate Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and three Cabinet Ministers has been completed with no evidence to suggest the allegations were true.
Continue reading Plot was not real
guardian.co.tt
January 05, 2012
Attorney General Anand Ramlogan cannot really be faulted in awarding silk to two sitting judges because there was precedence in the matter. That view on the controversial matter was given by Israel Khan SC yesterday. “When it was first announced I didn’t give it much serious thought because there was precedence for a chief justice to take silk,” he said. Khan recalled that former chief justice Clinton Bernard was awarded silk in 1988 by the attorney general of then National Alliance for Reconstruction (NAR) government.
Continue reading Khan: Don’t blame AG, it was done before
President: Silk comes with ability, good work
When it comes to high office holders, President George Maxwell Richards says the application for Senior Counsel (SC) status is not strictly followed. The President was speaking at the appointment ceremony of 16 attorneys-at-law to Senior Counsel—among them Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan, Chief Justice Ivor Archie and Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard—which took place at Knowsley yesterday. The President said in many instances, the individuals had “made significant contribution” and “a body of sufficient work preceding their appointment to public office.”
Continue reading Appointment of 16 Attorneys-at-law to Senior Counsel
By Dr. Selwyn R. Cudjoe
December 27, 2011
I am not a lawyer, I know nothing about legalese, but I do know when shit stinks and barely literate politicians tell me that I needn’t worry because they have the nation’s best interest at heart. Do I really have to believe the AG when he says that in making his decision about Ish and Steve that his only concern is that justice is served? Ah mean, is it that I have become so bey bey that I don’t know when someone is pissing on me even as he insists that it’s raining bucket ah drop. Ok, I stole this phrase from the title of Judge Judy’s book which reads “Don’t Pee on My Leg and Tell Me It’s Raining” but the intent is the same: stop all this legal chicanery and respect the public’s point of view.
Continue reading Don’t Piss On Me…
By Andre Bagoo
December 24 2011 – newsday.co.tt
MERE days after the United States expressed disappointment over the outcome of failed extradition proceedings against businessmen Ishwar Galbaransingh and Steve Ferguson potential hurdles have emerged.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is finding the situation very challenging in mounting renewed proceedings against the men in the local courts.
Continue reading Major Hurdles in Pursuing Ish and Steve Case