Caribbean Law

As a legal writer, I have contributed several articles to the Commentaries page of the Caribbean Net news and have received many favourable comments. I was particularly upset to find that the Kaieteur news of Guyana my homeland,had brazenly and in blatant disregard for all the rules of professionalism in journalism,the law , and of decency,copied wholesale and published my article under another title and with no attribution to me,instead they claim to have taken it from someplace called Hoovers, though I certainly could not find such a site and only published with Caribbean Net News see http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/legal/legal.php?news_id=19516&start=0&category_id=43 . The editor ought to be ashamed to display such disgraceful conduct , non-professionalism and downright thievery even as they claim to highlight corruption in Guyana.Typical of persons of that ilk, that newspaper is not likely to retract nor correct its behaviour. See photos and read the article below.

 

 

Caribbean Net News: Legal News

The first question asked of proponents of this method of dispute resolution, is usually, what is mediation? The answer very simply is that mediation is a form of alternative dispute resolution in which a neutral third party who has nothing to gain from the outcome of the dispute ,sits with the parties to the dispute and guides them in the resolution of the matter using particular skills which are usually certified. The mediator is not a judge and so does not settle the matter for the parties; instead she or he aids them in coming to resolutions of their own, so that the final agreement is of their own creation. The use of mediation as a means of settlement of disputes has become a part of the mainstream of sophisticated legal systems worldwide. This is hardly surprising since these organized systems rely on efficiency and accuracy to make them work. Where mediation is part of the legal system, litigants may be referred to mediation to settle certain aspects of a dispute , and h

The law of contracts can be rather much of a conundrum to the ordinary person who merely wishes to create a binding agreement for the purpose of enterprise or to safeguard the rights and responsibilities of parties in the ordinary course of living. They are not alone since admittedly, it can become complex and perplexing to even the most senior practitioners of the law at times. This is not merely because it is in itself a complex area, but because of the seeming propensity of human beings to create from the simplest circumstances, convolutions which would confound the gods. It is hardly surprising therefore that so many persons end up in litigation with the hope that a neutral third party or judge will unravel their problems for them. In some instances it becomes necessary for there to be enforcement of a contract as ordered by the court where a party refuses to honour his part of the agreement, or where a clause is unclear as written and needs judicial opinion to declare its meaning.

The issue of copyright infringement of written materials, music and performances is seemingly an everyday occurrence in Guyana, of which illegality ,notice is taken sporadically by the public when a specific complaint is made by a group, company or an individual seeking to protect their investment .At any other time it becomes a non issue in the face of the inadequacy of the law (both legislation and enforcement)to address the problem; this coupled with the lack of any properly organised focus group on intellectual property rights at both the legislative and the civil society levels, creates the environment most suitable for bootlegging to flourish and to expand by principle to other areas of endeavour ,as may be found in the example of the internet telephony issue which now occupies a place in the current newspapers. The issues of the infringement of patents, trademarks and passing off also regularly engage the attention of legal practitioners and the courts in which they may bec

A recent report by the Kaieteur News newspapers of Saturday, March 14, 2009 carried the caption “21,366 civil matters pending at Dec 2007”, and detailed the difficulties being experienced by the Judicial system in dealing with the amount of litigation before it. The report gives some account of the efforts at alternative dispute resolution in the field of mediation, as part of the effort by the Justice system to cope with its problems, along with the old idea of appointing part time judges. There is no mention or suggestion of using the age old, highly successful medium of arbitration to dispense with any number of civil matters, as a cost effective, timely alternative to litigation. It is perhaps one symptom of the lethargy of the system that this method is not in use except in Trade Union matters and is the purview of a few handpicked individuals. It is not intended at this time to expound on the use of arbitration locally, but to introduce readers to utility

It is a well established practice in Guyana, that upon the slightest hint of discord people begin to think of visiting a lawyer with the ultimate aim of having their day in court ,which should supposedly provide a final settlement to the dispute. This is hardly strange since the Common Law history of our country and the rest of the English speaking Caribbean is based on the adversarial system ; being essentially a system in which two or more parties involved in a dispute will approach a court (or formal dispute resolution forum in which one or more judges sit to try the dispute).This system is heavily based on the presentation of evidence and the persuasiveness of the arguments presented, thus the winner of the dispute is most often determined by an expert combination of those factors. In example many persons would recall the late Johnny Cochrane, criminal attorney for O.J Simpson in the 1994 trial because of his persuasive rhetoric and elegant yet flamboyant manner of delivery, which