Understanding the Law

Understanding the Law
Sued by an executor for expenses
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December 27, 2013
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that the spirit of Christ will continue to bless and guide you for the rest of the season. I will continue to...
Understanding the Law
Change the path to a better life
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December 20, 2013
I am still alarmed and saddened by the crimes that are committed in our beloved SVG. The weekend newspaper reported two incidents of setting persons o...
Understanding the Law
Property matters in Court
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December 13, 2013
Last week, the emphasis was on efforts that should be made to avoid conflict among family members over property, as far too many matters end up in cou...
Understanding the Law
Avoiding squabbles among siblings
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December 6, 2013
In our country, there are always cases in courts involving contests among family members over land issues. When it is not in relation to possessory ti...
Understanding the Law
Avoid contentious situations
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November 29, 2013
I do believe in a peaceful society, not a contentious one. I believe that civil laws should be used in a non-contentious manner and not be used to fig...
Understanding the Law
The principle of estoppel
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November 22, 2013
What is Estoppel? The Free Online Dictionary describes estoppel as "a legal principle that bars a person from denying or alleging a certain fact owing...
Understanding the Law
Having your day in court
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November 8, 2013
One important purpose for the existence of the Court is to resolve the disputes that the members of the public bring before it. Some matters may be re...
Understanding the Law
What’s in a hoodie?
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October 25, 2013
Banning hoodies! I have heard that before! The call was made in the USA because of some spurious associations between hoodie clad African American you...
Shocking scenes outside Magistrate’s Court
Understanding the Law
Shocking scenes outside Magistrate’s Court
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October 18, 2013
There was a shocking front page article in this newspaper of Tuesday, September 24, 2013, captioned "Family members battle police outside the Magistra...
Understanding the Law
The jury system – is it working? – Part 2
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October 11, 2013
There are both inherent weaknesses and strengths in our jury system as pointed out in the last article. Some of the challengers of the system point to...
Understanding the Law
The jury system – is it working? – Part 1
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October 4, 2013
The jury system has been criticized from time to time, but to date, there has been no constructive study which indicates that it is malfunctioning. Ap...
Understanding the Law
Issues relating to deeds of gift
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September 27, 2013
A deed of gift is a document that is registered in the land registry to indicate ownership. This type of ownership is created when a donor gives land ...
Understanding the Law
That word “liable”
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September 20, 2013
This word "liable" must have been used more extensively than any other in the law. In our regular interaction, we speak of being responsible for our a...
Understanding the Law
Ordinary English words
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September 13, 2013
Seemingly ordinary English words have important and specific implications in our laws. Damages This word is popularly used in civil law and features i...
Understanding the Law
Words used in our laws
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September 6, 2013
This week we would look at some special words that are used in our laws. Fiduciary This is a name for a person who operates as a trustee. The word is ...
Understanding the Law
Summary judgment
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August 30, 2013
The decision of the court in a civil case is given in a judgment. The claimant may be asking for damages, restitution or payment of a sum of money. Th...
Understanding the Law
Just do it right
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August 23, 2013
Last week we looked at New York's Stop and Frisk law, which has become exceedingly controversial since District Judge Shira Scheindlin made her decisi...
Understanding the Law
‘Stop-and-frisk’ in New York
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August 16, 2013
On August 12, 2013, the news media reported breaking news in New York on US District Judge Shira Scheindlin’s ruling with regards to the "stop-and-f...
Understanding the Law
Foreign words in our legal system
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August 9, 2013
Many words used in our laws have their foundation in other foreign languages, particularly Latin and French. Many of these words have retained their e...
Understanding the Law
Re-arrest
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August 2, 2013
The Editor of the Searchlight newspaper asked a pertinent question, “prosecution or persecution?” in prefacing her editorial of Tuesday, July 16, ...
Understanding the Law
Practices associated with a court room
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July 26, 2013
Many of the practices of our court have been inherited from the English Court during the colonial era. For example, there is a mode of dressing and a ...
Understanding the Law
Arrest
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July 19, 2013
What is an arrest? The Online dictionary defines an arrest as a seizure or forcible restraint; an exercise of the power to deprive a person of his lib...
Understanding the Law
Some important principles in law
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July 12, 2013
You were in court when an important decision was made. The lawyers on both sides argued and put forth precedents, but everything appeared to be compli...
Understanding the Law
Leave to appeal
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July 5, 2013
The week before last, we looked at interlocutory matters under a single judge. By now, you would have an understanding of what is an interlocutory or ...
Understanding the Law
Single judge in the Court of Appeal
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June 21, 2013
I have written many times about Court of Appeal matters where there are three judges, but not much was said about matters before a single judge. Last ...
Understanding the Law
Adherence to court procedures
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June 14, 2013
In the year 2000, we were given guidelines in the form of CPO 2000 to direct the way matters are to be conducted in civil court and for the preparatio...
Understanding the Law
Joint tenant and tenant in common
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June 7, 2013
You may have seen the above terms in a title deed, but what do they mean to you? In an effort to understand certain legal terms, we now turn to two te...
Understanding the Law
Recent practice direction
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May 31, 2013
For your continued enlightenment on the court, we would turn our attention to a recent practice direction. In our jurisdiction, the Chief Justice issu...
Understanding the Law
Negligence – Part 2
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May 24, 2013
The law pertaining to negligence is quite broad and many writers have made the topic the subject of a single book. Like most topics, I would not be ab...
Understanding the Law
Evidence
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May 17, 2013
In a dispute, there are always two sides with opposing views on some claim, legal duty or rights. When these views cannot be reconciled, the parties m...
Understanding the Law
Negligence
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May 10, 2013
It is important to note from the start that negligence could be either a tort or a criminal action. It is, however, the aim of this article to deal wi...
Understanding the Law
Judicial Review
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May 3, 2013
If you have a grievance against the state or an agent of the state, you could take action by applying to the court for relief. You may be able to get ...
Understanding the Law
Your title deed
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April 19, 2013
The deed that you get from your lawyer with the purchase of your land is a fairly technical document but it marks the title of your possession and it ...
Understanding the Law
Buying land in SVG
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April 12, 2013
We will continue to look at how freehold land is transferred from one owner to another. As said before, the search of the indices and deed books for e...
Understanding the Law
Your dream land
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April 5, 2013
You have decided to buy a parcel of land or land with a house on it. You need to see the land/property. Look for hidden flaws, because the seller/vend...
Understanding the Law
Clean air
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March 28, 2013
We are worried about the water we drink, but how many of us are worried about the air we breathe? I have not heard much talk about it. We all take, fr...
Understanding the Law
A crime free society – is this possible?
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March 22, 2013
Heinous (wicked) crimes always cause public outcry. We speculate as to the causes at the time of the occurrences. Perhaps we need some in-depth psycho...
Understanding the Law
Essentials of a will – Part 2
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March 15, 2013
A will is a truly versatile document. It can do so many things. Not only does it provide for the distribution of a testator's gifts, but it contains i...
Understanding the Law
Essentials of a will
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March 8, 2013
I have written about wills and codicils before, but this is just to highlight certain aspects of a will. First of all, a will is a document that is ma...
Understanding the Law
The backscatter machine again – Part 2
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March 1, 2013
Last week I ended abruptly and this week I would try to complete the topic. We have heard quite a lot about radiation. We are exposed to radiation whe...
Understanding the Law
The backscatter again
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February 22, 2013
I have always had my suspicion about the backscatter machine and I wrote an article in 2009 about what I suspect to be the dangers of the machine. I w...